Sweet as the Chocolate we eat
by MissBiankadonk
Summary: [2005 CATCF] Wonka's childhood wasn't exactly great, but his childhood sweetheart helped him out. Once his factory opens, he completely forgets about her until fifteen years later when her daughter comes to the factory with terrible news. Please R
1. Saved by an Angel

Chapter 1 – Saved by an Angel

It was another cold day in the small town where young William was stuck inside doing his chores. He always wanted to go play outside with the other children of the neighborhood but his headgear always got in the way. Since his father was a dentist, he wouldn't allow his son to go a life without perfectly straight teeth so William was cursed with this metal contraption around his head until the end of his teen years.

He was an only child with only one parent. His mother died when he was very young so he never really had the chance to get to know her. His father, on the other hand, was always at work with his patients so William only saw him in the morning before going to school and in the evening right before going to bed.

A solitary childhood wasn't always the best. He never had the chance to experience normal childhood experiences like going to the park, playing hide-and-go seek and finger painting. His father always told him that those activities were for the simple-minded and that no son of his would do foolish child activities.

William didn't even know what candy tasted like. Every child on the street would have candy and they would enjoy it. He would go out for Halloween every year but never actually ate any of the candy he got. His father would take his pumpkin shaped plastic holder and dump all the candy onto his desk. William would sit in the old Victorian chair that was placed right in front of his desk and he would watch his father as he looked through the candy.

Hopefully this year would be very different or so William was hoping. This year he would be entering the local private high school where all the rich snobby teenagers went. This did not please him too much but at least he was getting an education so he could eventually get away from this small town. He dreamed of traveling the world and making a difference.

William continued his chores of cleaning the parlor, bathroom and vacuuming the whole house. Even if the building looked small from the outside it really wasn't. There was the house and the rooms for his father's practice. Even with all the space he always felt alone. He had always guessed that he would have had a larger family if he mother was still alive. He could have had a little brother or sister.

That really didn't matter right now, the only thing that did was to finish his chores so he could get ready for his first day of school which was tomorrow. He put away the vacuum in the closet and headed upstairs to where his room was. When his family moved in, he had the choice to which room would be his and he chose the attic room because it was away from everyone. Plus he could look over the town from up there.

"William, where are you going?" he father called up the stairs.

"I am going to get ready for school tomorrow. It is my first day after all."

After saying that he turned away and closed the door behind him. His room was no different from any other except the fact that he had no posters of his favorite band or clothes on the floor or other things that a normal teenage room would have. Instead, it only had one bed, a dresser, a desk and a lamp to go on the desk. The colors of the walls were a forest green with a striped border.

He sighed and started going through his stuff looking for things to bring on his first day. His uniform was ready since the school provided them for their students. He placed his bag on his desk and started to get ready for bed. William was very anxious and nervous for the next day. It would be his first day in high school and he wanted it to be a day to remember.

The only thing he could feel and hear were the eyes of students looking at him and laughing at him. He knew darn well that they were directing all of this at him. It was because of the stupid contraption on his head and it didn't help that he was new to the school. He walked to every class with his eyes locked to the ground, ignoring the laughs and glares of his fellow peers as he did so.

William entered his last class of the day, English. He didn't understand why he had to take this class since he already knew how to speak and write it. The other students entered as he was opening his textbook and getting ready for the class to begin. His seat was in the far corner since it went in alphabetical order and he was thankful for that since no one would look back at him.

The teacher entered the classroom and all the students went quiet. She started with opening her attendance book and checking off who was there and who wasn't. Once again, William was the last to be called and he heard a couple of snickers as the teacher said his name.

"Now children please open your books to page eleven, we will be studying Shakespeare for the next month or so," she announced.

Some of the student moaned and groaned as they opened their books to the appropriate page. William's book was already opened to that page so he just started to look at the other students in his class. He had never been around this many people his own age in months. It was very uncomfortable in his case. Luckily the day would be over in only a half an hour.

The ring of the school bell brought William out of his daydream and back into reality. Half the students had already left the class and the other just stayed behind to talk to the teacher or other fellow students. William just took his books and headed right to his locker.

It didn't go as good as he excepted. He wanted to go to his locker and leave the school grounds without being noticed but that wasn't going to happen. On his way to his locker, some of the football players come up to him and started to knock over his books and push him into the walls.

"Look at the new metal factory here," said one of them.

"He is more metal than boy," one of them laughed.

"HEY! Leave him alone" said the voice of a girl.

The group of boys stopped what they were doing and turned around to face the girl. It seemed that the football players were scared of this girl as William quickly heard their retreating footsteps. William started to pick up his books when he realized that he was missing one. Black shoes appeared in front of him and he stood up. It was the girl who stopped those boys and she was holding his missing book.

She was the most beautiful girl he has ever seen. Her shinning emerald eyes looked at him, her wavy auburn hair went past her shoulders and her tanned skin glowed in the light. She gave a half a smile and handed him back his book. He tried to say thank you but it only came out in mumbles and she just continued to walk down the hallway.

William didn't understand why such a beautiful girl like her would ever save a guy like him. Every time he thought about the subject it only brought up more questions. He wondered about how she could have stopped those boys even though she was a girl. So many questions left unanswered and that was driving him crazy.

The days rolled by very quickly since his first day of school and William was getting used to it. He was passing all his classes with As and he wasn't having any trouble. That girl only talked to him once or twice since the day she saved him but most of the time he would see her with friends or those boys. He wanted to go up and thank her properly but he never had the courage to do it.

Until one day when the sky was grey and cloudy, he had just arrived at home when someone knocked at the door. He heard his father voice telling him to let them in since it was one of his patients. William opened the door and there she was standing right in front of him.

"Hello William," she said in a low voice.

He was just about to answer her when she smiled and he closed his mouth. William couldn't believe what he saw. Right behind those pink lips of hers were two rows of metal. This beautiful girl had braces as well.

"Hello Emily, how's your day going?" his father turned the corner.

"Very good and yourself?"

"Excellent thank you. Now open your mouth, so I can check those beautiful teeth of yours."

The man moved out of the way so the girl could pass by and enter the dentist room. His father turned his head slightly and told William to go do his homework. As usual, he did what he was told and walked up the many stairs to his quarters.

William sat at his desk trying to concentrate on his algebra homework but his mind always wondered to her. He finally knew her name and it was a very pretty one for a girl like her. He looked down at his homework and hardly half the questions were done. Rubbing his eyes he pushed her out of his thoughts and continued his math homework.


	2. Chatting It Up

Chapter 2 – Chatting It Up

The following morning William was rushing out the door since he had stayed up too late the night before finishing his homework. This was the first time since he started school that he would be late. He turned the final corner and heard the school bell ring. He dashed off again hoping to make it before the second bell rang.

"William you are late. You will be spending a half-hour after school with me for your tardiness," said the teacher and she wrote down his name.

He slowly walked to the back of the class and placed his books on his desk. As he sat down he heard his named being whispered. He looked up to see Emily waving to him and smiling, showing her teeth. He blushed and waved back.

"William! Open your book at once to page forty-six," the teacher snapped at him.

He immediately straightened up and opened his books. At the corner of his eye he saw Emily trying to get his attention by waving her hand or sneezing. The teacher was walking about the class looking at the finished work when she slapped her ruler on Emily's desk.

"Miss Vermont, where is your homework?"

"I am sorry but I forgot it at home," she stammered.

"Then you will also be spending a half-hour with me after school as well. You will keep William company as you wash the desks," she smiled and continued looking at the homework.

He looked in her direction but she was facing forward trying not to get into more trouble. William felt kind of bad since he was half the reason she got into trouble. Every time she moved he would look up to catch her eye but it didn't happen until the bell rang for the next class.

"Alright please do activity one to four tonight. Emily and William, don't forget your detention after school," she said as the children left the room.

Emily quickly gathered her things and walked out of the room even before he had the chance to stand up. He wanted to talk to her and say he was sorry for getting her into trouble. Well he just wanted to talk to her. Any chance he got he would take it and talk to her.

William sat down at one of the corner tables to eat his lunch. Once again he had a tuna fish sandwich with yogurt and apple juice. It was always the same everyday since he couldn't eat certain foods with his headgear on. He opened his juice and started to drink it when Emily came up to the table. She was holding a lunch box. He could tell it was a girl lunch box since he had flowers on it.

"Hello William. Is anyone sitting here," she asked.

"No."

"So how's your day so far," she sat down.

"Good and yours?" his face was turning beet red.

"Things are getting a little busy since the school dance is coming up and the Christmas holidays are just around the corner," she sighed and opened her lunch box.

"Are you on student council or something?" he breathed.

"Yes I am. I am also on the Athletics Committee. Trust me, I regret joining the groups. I am the only one who does any work. Sometimes it's very tiring."

"Heh, It must be," he finished his juice.

"You are not very talkative. Is there something wrong, William?"

"I just want to say thank you for stopping those boys and sorry for getting you in trouble this morning," he looked down, purposely avoiding to look at her.

"It's alright William. Those boys had no right picking on you and it's my fault I didn't do my homework," she smiled.

"Well that takes a load of my chest then."

"Are you sure there is nothing else. You look very troubled," she placed her hand on his.

"Emily what are you doing _here_?"

She turned her head and saw the boys from the other day. She frowned and pulled her hand back. William tried to be invisible but that didn't last long since one of them was looking directly at him. His intense blue eyes were burning into William. He could tell that the boy was angry at him.

"I'll ask again, what are you doing with this _metal face_?" he grabbed her arm.

"Edward can't you see I am having lunch right now. Please let go of me."

"I will not let you spend time with this_ thing_. You are coming with me right now."

He pulled her up from her seat and pulled her away. She looked back at William and gave him a little smile to tell him she was alright. He finished his sandwich when he noticed that she forgot her lunch box on the table. He stood up and headed out of the cafeteria holding the plastic box.


	3. Hidden Behind that Smile

Chapter 3 – Hidden Behind that Smile

He turned the corner into the main hallway where her locker was and he stopped dead in his tracks. He saw Emily at her locker with that Edward guy's arm around her waist. She was talking to him and one of her friends. William felt his heart being broken into little pieces as he walked away.

The bell rang and all the students were in the hallway heading to their next class. William kept his eyes on the ground, not wanting to look up and face the truth. Emily would never like him because he was so different. She probably wanted a guy like Edward, captain of the football team, not an ordinary boy with teeth correcting headgear.

William walked into his English class and half the students were there. Most of them were talking and discussing their homework which he had finished a couple of days ago. He sat down at his desk and took out his worksheets. The day was almost over but then he had his detention which he only remembered now.

The second bell rang and Emily came running into the room. William looked up to see her walking to her desk and sitting down. He was very surprised that she didn't turn around and wave or try to get his attention. He sighed as he started the worksheet the teacher just handed out.

"Mister William and Miss Emily you must stay behind for you detention," the teacher announced as the bell rang.

The whole class except for two students left the room to go home. William put his books on his chair and walked to the front of the class. Emily was still at her desk finishing the worksheet. The teacher was putting away a couple of things into her bag before she knew William was standing next to her.

"Alright, you two will be washing the desk and the black board. I will be back in twenty minutes to see your progress."

She placed a water bucket on the desk with a few wash cloths and soap spray for the desk. William quickly took the soap spray and a cloth. Emily had just put away her books and walked up to the desk. He saw her smile at him but he turned away and started his cleaning duty.

The room was very quiet since neither of the two talked to each other. William kept his distance from her as he was on the other side of the room washing desks. Emily sneezing would break the silence now and then. He finished washing the desks and cleaned the cloth.

"William is something wrong?" she was standing right next to him.

"Could you please just leave me alone" he turned away.

"Why do you say that?" she seemed really hurt.

"Because who would want to spend time with a _thing_ or a _metal face_? You should just stay with Edward."

"William, a relationship lasts forever, your headgear won't," she smiled.

"What about Edward?"

"He is just a controlling boy but he would do anything to make me happy. I'll talk to him."

Emily placed her hand on his and looked into his eyes. Her green eyes were so clear they looked like two emeralds. William blushed and looked down. Now he knew that she had feelings for him and he wanted to tell her how he felt but he had butterflies in his stomach.

"Now what are you two doing?" the teacher waked in.

Emily quickly pulled her hand away and put it behind her back. William turned around and was about to answer but the teacher put up her hand to stop him. She walked by the desks to see if they were clean and if the black boards were washed.

"Very good job you two. Now you are dismissed," she waved them out of the room.

William walked to the back of the class to get his books and left the classroom. Emily followed him back to his locker to say her good-byes for the day. He opened his locker and her lunch box fell out. She smiled and picked it up. He almost forgot that she had left it in the cafeteria.

"I forgot that I left it there. Edward pulled me away so fast."

"I wanted to give it to you at lunch but you were a little busy so I kept it until after school," he started to pack his bag.

"Do you mind if I walk with you. My house is along the way to yours."

"Sure you can," he smiled happily.

"Good, I'll get my stuff."

He watched her as she ran down the hallway to her locker and packed her things. He would never understand why such a beautiful girl would be interested in him. She lived on his street and he always remembered seeing her but never paying attention to her. He shrugged as he closed his locker to join Emily who was walking back.

It was getting a little dark when they finally left school grounds. They talked about everything that they could think of as they walked up Main Street. There were a couple of more people walking through the streets getting a couple of last minute things before going home for the night.

Emily suddenly stopped in front of the local candy shop and William wondered why. The store was already closed since it was passed five o'clock and who would eat candy before going home to have supper. Emily faced him and smiled.

"Well this is my stop. I will see you tomorrow William."

She opened the door and walked in. Inside he could see her being welcomed by her father and mother who were just cleaning up after a full days work. He turned away and started to walk up the street towards his house. He opened the door to see his father just turning the corner.

"Now where have you been?"

"I am sorry but I had an after school detention."

"That's what you get when you stay up late doing homework. You know your bed time is nine o'clock."

"I know but the homework was harder than I expected."

"Well everyone has troubles once in their life. Supper is in the fridge. Tomorrow is your check up, so come home as soon as you can."

His father turned around and walked into his study. William went into the kitchen to see what there was to eat. He ended up eating a tuna fish sandwich since he wasn't in the mood for chicken. After eating, he went into his room to start his homework. He sighed because he knew it would be a boring night with the worksheets he had to complete but they had to be done.


	4. Good and Bad

Chapter 4 – Good and Bad

It was another Thursday afternoon and William was stuck in the most boring class of the day, Art. He never understood why teens should learn how to draw a sphere on a piece of paper. It would be easier to just make one out of clay. He sighed as he finished his picture of two people. Well they didn't really look like people, more like two blobs in the middle of the page.

The bell rang and school was over. He was quite glad because school seemed to drag on forever and it was always the same. He closed his locker door to see Emily standing next to him. She was all ready to leave and was holding a small package.

"Hello William, are you ready to go now?"

"Yup."

"Oh before I forget, here," she smiled and handed him the package. "Dad made too much candy yesterday and couldn't fit them into the boxes so he gave me the leftovers. They usually give me what's left, but I want you to have it." She smiled at him

"Thank you very much Emily," he smiled back.

He opened the little package to see all sorts of little candies he had never seen before. He had never gotten any of these when he went out for Halloween. Emily suggested a light brown cube. She said it's called fudge and it tastes really good. There was a mixture of chocolates and hard candy and even soft! He picked up a pinkish one and started to chew on it.

"My mother makes all the hard candies and my dad makes the soft ones. How do you like it?"

"It's delicious," he looked up at her.

"That's great. Well I have to be home early today to help my parents. Christmas is coming soon and they need all the help they can get."

William put away the candy box into his pack sack and started to walk with Emily. She told him about all the candies and chocolates that her parents make at the shop. He never knew that there were so many. He only knew the basic caramels, lollipops and chocolates. She said sometimes they actually mix some of candies together to make more. William couldn't imagine the wonders that candy held for him.

"I wish I could tell you more, but this is my stop" she smiled.

"I will see you tomorrow then?"

"Actually I won't be in school tomorrow since I have to work on preparing for the dance next week. I will try to catch you at lunch. Bye," she walked into the shop.

"Bye," he yelled after the door closed.

William watched as she talked to her parents and started to get to work. He couldn't help but smile because she looked so happy. Then it just hit him. He had to be home for his annual check up. William turned and ran home. His father was going to be very mad if he was going to be late again.

He closed the door as quiet as he could but his father walked into the entrance. He didn't look to happy to see him. William told him he was a little late because he had to get extra help from his teacher. His father understood and he showed him into his office.

"Let's see how your teeth are doing."

He picked up his mirror and plaque remover and started to look through his teeth. Once and a while he would stop and pick out some plaque or food from his lunch. William closed his mouth as his father took out the tools.

"Well it seems you will need your head gear for another four months then you can finally take it off. Isn't that good news?"

William nodded and slowly got out of the chair. Before leaving the room his father stopped him and he turned around. He picked up his plaque remover and showed William what was on the end. It looked like a piece of light brown food. He knew that he didn't have anything light brown in his lunch. It was the candy.

"William, is this fudge? You know you are not supposed to eat candy."

"It was a gift. I just wanted to have a taste."

"You could have broken a bracket or had an allergic reaction. Why don't you ever think of these things?"

"It won't happen again, I promise."

"I hope not. I will not allow my son become a candy eater or a chocolatier."

William immediately left the room as he could see that his father was not too pleased with him. He knew better than you eat candy but Emily was there. He didn't want her to think he didn't want to eat her father's candy. The thought of seeing Emily sad made him feel sick.

He walked into his room and flopped down on his bed. He didn't want to think about homework or any type of work. The lack of sleep was finally taking its toll on his body and the only thing he wanted was sleep. To close his eyes and go into his dreamland where he could eat all the candies he wanted.

The second hand on William's clock was going very slow. It was six o'clock in the morning and the only thing he could do was look at his clock and wait for seven to come around. He knew that going to bed early would wake him up earlier than expected but that was the best night sleep he had in a while.

He thought about things that he should do to keep himself busy for another hour or so but nothing came up. He sighed as he got out of bed and started to get ready for school.

His father was already in the kitchen making his breakfast when William walked in. He looked at him with a confused look since he had never seen his son up so early in the morning. William gave a little smile and walked over to the fridge to see what there was to eat.

"I see you are up rather early," his father said.

"I went to bed early last night. I guess I was tired of sleeping," he pulled out some cereal.

"School ends next week for the Christmas holidays, right?"

"Yes it does. Next week will only be activities so tonight will be the last night of homework."

His father nodded in agreement as he finished his breakfast of a bagel and cream cheese. William just started eating his bowl of cereal when a patient arrived. His father said his good byes and went off to work. William sighed as he continued eating alone.

Now there was only half an hour before he actually had to wake up for school. He knew that this was going to be a very boring day. He woke up too early and Emily would be away for the whole day. He just hoped that nothing bad would happen at school. This would be the perfect day for those boys to get him.

The hallways of the school were almost deserted. There was only forty minutes before the first warning bell rang to get to classes. He sat at his locker finishing the homework he didn't do the night before. It made it easier to do it in the morning since he was ready to learn and he still had energy in him.

He looked up as a girl passed by with books, posters and papers in her hands. She seemed to be in a big rush and he didn't pay any mind to her. Someone bumped into her and everything fell to the ground. Then he realized it was Emily and quickly stood up to help her.

"Good Morning Emily," he smiled.

"Hello William. You are here early?"

"I woke up a bit too early so I decided to come in a finish my homework."

"If you are done your homework can you come help me post these up," she gestured to the posters.

"I'll gladly help."

She gave him some of the books to hold and she got her stuff under control. They continued down the hallway and around the corner to the Student Council office. There were already a few students there as they greeted Emily when she walked in. William stood there as some of them looked over at him and wondered why he was there.

He knew what they were looking at him so he just kept his eyes on the ground. Emily was looking through some of the drawers for something to hold up the posters to the walls. A couple of minutes later she came back with tape and scissors in her hand.

"We have twenty minutes to post all these posters because you still have to get to class," she smiled.

"Then let's get a move on."

They walked through the hallways together putting up posters as the halls filled with other students. Once and a while, some of the students would say good morning or hello to Emily but they would just stare at William. Every time they did that she would introduce him to them and they would smile as they walked away.

"Well William this is our last poster. I really appreciate it. You helping and all," she smiled.

"It's the least I can do. The holidays are coming soon anyway."

"I'd better go. Thank you again."

She stepped closer and wrapped her arms around him. William could feel his face burn up. He didn't know what to do or what to say. He hesitated to put his arms around her but he couldn't do it. This was the first time he had actual contact with a girl but it felt nice. She pulled herself away and walked down the hall as she waved to him.

It felt like forever but the last school bell finally rang and William quickly got out of his seat. He wanted to catch Emily before she went off to help out with the activities. He was walking down the hallway with his back pack when he bumped into her.

"Just the person I was looking for," she laughed.

"You were looking for me?" he asked.

"Yes, are you busy on Sunday?"

"Not that I know of."

"Well come by my father's shop right after lunch. We could spend sometime together," she smiled.

"I will be there," he blushed.

Emily said her good byes and continued to walk down the hallway with books and papers in her hands. He couldn't believe what just happened. Were they going on a date or was it just a normal get together just as friends? This had never happened before so he didn't know how to react but he just had to wait until Sunday. Waiting two days for their get-together was going to be painful.

William was walking out of the main doors when the boys from before walked in front of him. They didn't seem too pleased to see him, especially Edward. William tried to walk around him but he shifted his weight in front of him. He knew this wasn't going to end well, just for him at least.

"William Wonka. We meet again," he said as he crossed his arms.

"I would like to pass," he didn't dare look up.

"You know what? You are very annoying little boy, stealing my girl," he pushed William.

"I don't understand. I didn't steal anything."

"You know darn right what you stole. You took Emily away from me with your stupid headgear," he poked it.

"We're just friends."

"That's not what she thinks. You don't understand how much you mean to her. I don't get what she sees in you."

"Maybe it's because I am not a jerk."

William looked up at him. At that very moment he regretted saying that. Edward looked down at him with his angry blue eyes. He gave out a little growl and punched William in the stomach. He fell to the ground holding his abdomen and Edward walked away laughing. It knocked the wind out of him and he just lied there on the ground.

After a few moments of being crouched on the ground, he stood up and started to slowly walk home. He knew he wouldn't be able to eat his supper since his stomach was a little upset from being punched. He opened the door to his house and it was very quiet. Usually his father would come out to say hello or something but nothing came. It was silent.

There was a note on the fridge door saying that his father would be out for the rest of the night with old friends. He was pretty glad since his father would ask questions if he didn't eat his supper. He walked up the stairs to his room and sat down at his desk. He sighed at the fact that all his teachers gave him so much homework that it would last him at least five hours.

He reached into his bag and decided to get started with the harder homework first. Math was always a boring subject but he had the most work to do in it so he had no choice but to start with that.

After an hour of working he finally finished the four pages of algebra work. He thought it was slave labor making students do all this work and for what, an education? William didn't need an education, he just wanted to get away from everyone and do something he wanted to do. Sadly he didn't know what it was.

His father always told him he could go into dentistry but teeth never really interested William at all. They were there to help him eat food and that's all he wanted to know about them. Nothing really interested him much since he never got to do anything.

The sound of the front door closing startled William. He got out of his chair and pocked his head out of his room. His father was putting his jacket up on the coat racks next to entrance. He stood at the top of the stairs and waited for his father to notice him.

"Oh Hello Willy," he looked up the stairs.

"Dad, please, don't call me that."

"Why not? Your mother called you that all the time. That was your original name, you know?"

"I will be in my room."

That was the first time in forever that his father actually talked about his mother. He had never mentioned her or talked about her much. Every time he wanted to know something about her his father would usually walk off or say he was busy. After a while William just gave up and moved on. There weren't really any pictures of her any where.

William closed the door and sat back down on the chair. He closed his Math workbook and continued onto English homework. He wanted to get this work done so he wouldn't have to do it on Sunday since he would be spending it with Emily. He sighed when he though of her but quickly shook his head.

His pencil scratched on the paper as he wrote down the answers to questions and within hours he was done all the holiday homework. He stood up and stretched then he started putting away his books neatly into his back sack. It was about eleven at night and he was tired from all the work. He dressed into his nigh clothes and climbed into bed.


	5. Sunday Sunshine

Chapter 5 – Sunday Sunshine

William woke up around eleven o'clock. His body felt all rested and ready for the eventful day ahead. Before going downstairs for breakfast, he changed into a normal grey t-shirt and black pants. He walked down the stairs and his father was in the living room reading one of his big books. He looked up and smiled.

"Ah William you're awake. I have very good news," he stood out of his chair.

"What is it?"

"It just arrived today from the manufacturers. I have been waiting three weeks for it. Here come into my office."

He followed his father into his office where he sat down in one of the chairs. His father walked over to one of the cupboards and brought out a cardboard box. It wasn't very big but his father handled it with care. He opened it and pulled out a thick silver wire with some sort of scrapes connected to it.

"William this is your new headgear. See this wire here, it will connect to your braces and the scrapes will hold it in. This looks much better than the one you have now," he smiled.

"So I am finally getting off this headgear," he was all excited.

"Yes, now come along and let's get this done already."

William quickly stood up and sat down in the chair. He was all excited now because he wouldn't look as much as an outcast at school. He would only have this small metal wire going from his mouth to his jaw then it would connect to the straps. It would make his head a little lighter as well.

"There you're all done."

His father passed him a mirror and he took it. William could finally close his mouth completely. With his other headgear there was always a small gap between his lips. He smiled and examined how it was put together. His father padded him on the shoulder before walking out of the room to go continue reading his book.

William looked at his watch and realized it was almost time to go meet Emily at her father's shop. He ran into the kitchen and grabbed the first fruit he set his eyes on and ran to put on his jacket. Winter was just around the corner but there was yet to be snow.

"Dad I am going out for the afternoon with a friend. I will be back before supper."

"Okay Willy," he turned the page in his book.

He sighed when he heard that name and opened the door. It was very windy out but there was no snow to be seen. It was in the middle of December but yet there was no snow not even one flake of it. William tucked his hands into his jacket pocket and started to walk. It was weird to have the cold and yet being able to see the ground. He wanted the snow, it was nice.

He arrived a little after twelve o'clock and Emily was standing outside tying her shoes. She wasn't in her school uniform but in a pair a dark blue jeans and a thick grey sweater. She stood up and looked around to see him. She looked at him with a confused look on her face then their eyes met and she smiled.

"William? I hardly recognized you. You got your headgear off," she walked up to him and wrapped her arm around him.

"I got it off this morning. My father got this new one so it will help the braces."

"You must really need it. I had to get four teeth pulled and braces for three years. Ever since grade eight I have had these but in three months they are coming off," she smiled.

"That's good to hear. I still have another year or two."

"We should get going. I have to be back before dinner."

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see," she smiled.

She grabbed his arm and started to pull him down the street to goodness knows where. He had never been to this side of the town before so he didn't recognize any of the scenery. He looked every where trying to take in everything as it flashed by.

Emily pulled him around a corner and stopped. She turned around and smiled at him. He looked around to try and guess where they were but he had never seen this place before.

"William, this is called a park. It's where people come to play and enjoy themselves."

"I've never been to one before," he felt a little stupid.

"I guessed that much since you looked lost when you looked around. I will show you what's it like to be a teenager."

This time she took his hand and they started to walk along the path. He felt himself blush at that fact he was holding her hand. Emily looked over and smiled. He really thought she was pretty when she smiled even with the braces and he smiled back. It wasn't as bad now since the old headgear was downsized to this little wire. He was quite glad.

Emily stopped and pointed to some sort of fort made out of metal, surrounded by sand. She said it was called a jungle gym and it was meant to be climbed on and other fun things. William followed her as she walked across the sand to a leather seats attached to metal polls by chains. She said that they were swings.

William watched as she sat down on one and started to sway back and forth. He tried to copy her but he wasn't going any where. She told him to look at what she was doing and he did. Once again he tried to copy her and this time he actually started to swing. It felt good to have the wind blowing in his face when he went forward.

"See it isn't that hard once you get used to it," she called over to him.

"I never knew about this place until today."

"I have been going here since I moved here when I was a little girl."

"You mean you weren't born in Britain," he looked over at her.

"No, I was born in Paris. My family decided to move here since they wanted me to have an enriched life. You see France was a terrible place to grow up when I was born so we moved here."

"Wow, do you actually speak French or were you too young to learn it?" he was all curious now.

"Actually French was the first language I learned. When I moved here my father taught me how to speak it. I am perfectly bilingual," she giggled.

"Then say something in French. I want to hear it," he stopped swinging.

"William, vous avez des beaux yeux bleus que j'aime avec tout mon coeur," she slightly blushed.

"What did you say? I would like to know."

She giggled again and stood up. William could hardly tell that she was blushing because her skin was so tan that it came out as a light red. Emily smiled as she slowly turned around and started to run. He wasn't expecting this so it took a couple of moments to realize she was running away.

"Emily, where are you going?"

He leaped out of the swing and started to run after her. She was pretty fast for someone who had short legs but William was hoping he could catch up to her. He was walking through the trees looking for the auburn hair but never found it. William was starting to become very worried until he heard branches move and he looked up to see her smiling down at him from one of the tree branches.

"What are you doing up there?"

"What are you doing down there," she was being playful.

"I asked you first. Plus you could hurt yourself up there."

"You are starting to sound like my parents. Come on William, you're not a kid forever, you know," she put out her hand for him to climb up.

"Emily don't do that."

She leaned to far out and lost her balance. She slipped off the tree branch and was falling to the ground. William panicked and went to break her fall. He felt her whole weight hit him and he too fell to the ground. Quickly he sat up and went to Emily's side. She was holding her wrist and trying to fight back tears.

"Emily, are you alright?"

"I am fine. It's only sprained," she sat up.

"You have to go see a doctor. What if it's broken? You could never use you wrist again."

"I'll be fine. I just can't use to for a while."

William was very worried about her wrist. He saw that she was fighting back tears and it hurt him to see her in pain. It was getting late and Emily needed to get home before the sun went down. He brought her back to her father's candy shop. They stood outside the shop there eyes locked.

"I had a wonderful day today, William."

"I am really happy that I spend it with you," he smiled.

"Emily, there you are," her mother walked out of the shop.

"Hello Maman, I came back a little early," she smiled.

"Oh who is this fine fellow? Is this Edward?" she had a little French accent.

"No this is William. He is one of my class mates."

"Please to meet you Ma'am," he put out his hand to shake hers.

"What a polite boy. You may stop by anytime you like," she was beaming.

"Maman, tu peux arrête," Emily nudged her in the side. "Well I guess I will see you on Monday."

"Have a nice day," he said to both Emily and her mother..

They both smiled as they went back into the little store. William couldn't believe how much they looked alike. Their hair was the same, their skin and height but her eyes weren't her mothers. He thought about it as he walked down the street to his house. Her mother had dark eyes and yet her daughter had brilliant ones.

He opened the door and his father was still in the living room reading. He seemed to be almost done the book so William knew he had been reading all afternoon. He closed the door and his father looked up as he closed his book.

"You are back so soon. I wasn't expecting you for another hour or so."

"Emily had to go home for dinner," he walked into the room.

"Emily? The same Emily who comes here for check-ups every five weeks?"

"Yes," he just realized what he told his father.

"Her father owns the local candy shop down the street. She seems to be a very well rounded child. You two are friends?"

"Just friends?" he nodded.

"Good, it's nice that you have friends. Just don't let her tempt you with her sweets. I know you want those braces off a soon a possible. Candy only slows down the process," he stood out of his chair.

"I won't, Dad."

His father gestured to head for the kitchen where the dinner was ready to eat. William was relieved. He didn't expect that to go as good as it did. He thought his father wouldn't let him go near Emily since her dad did own a candy shop. They both sat down at the table and ate supper as a family. It truly was a great day.


	6. First Chocolate and More Regrets

Chapter 6 – First Chocolate and More Regrets

The week flashed by with the school activities and holiday spirit. It finally snowed on Tuesday and it covered everything. It truly was the holiday spirit, well in school at least. William's father didn't celebrate Christmas since it was a pointless holiday with the exchanging of gifts and sweets every where.

William did enjoy the holidays because it was the time to usually catch up on his reading or thinking. His father would go out every second night with his fellow dentist friends and talk about boring adult subjects. But hopefully this Christmas would be different.

It was the last day of school and hardly any of the students were there. Some just went on vacation a week ahead since some of them were going to the United States to catch some sun. All the kids that didn't go away were in class talking away and enjoying the day.

William sat in the back of the class reading his book. He hand gone to the library a couple of days before to check out some interesting books to read over the three weeks they were gone. Every hour or so, the school bell would ring but no one would move. The school hadn't disabled the ring yet so it rang as if it were a regular day.

It was close to the end of the day and William couldn't wait to hear that final bell to let him leave. There was one thing holding him back though. He hadn't seen Emily all day. Usually she was in his English class but she never showed. He thought she might have left early for vacation but she would have told him. William was packing away his library books when he heard his name.

"William, thank goodness I caught you in time," she was a little out of breath.

"What is it?"

"I wanted to give you this before you left," she handed him a package.

William looked at it in amazement. It was wrapped in the most colorful wrapping paper he had ever seen and the blue ribbon kept it all together. He smiled as he looked back at Emily who was playing with her hair.

"You didn't have to," he smiled.

"It's okay. I wanted to. Happy Christmas!"

Emily wrapped her arms around him and he did too. She was a little shorter than he was so he softly rested his cheek on her head. The school bell rang and it startled her. William pulled away and smiled as he said his good byes and Happy Holidays. Emily kissed his softly on the cheek and walked away leaving him standing in the hallway shocked.

William walked home alone holding the gift in his hands. He wanted to wait until actual Christmas day to open it but his curiosity kicked in too fast and he started to take off the ribbon. He was just about to rip off the wrapping paper when his father opened the door.

"William what are you doing standing in the snow," he asked.

"I was just about to go inside."

"What is that you have in your hand?"

"It's just a present Emily gave me," he put it away in his pack sack.

His father smiled and opened the door a little more so William could fit through. He noticed that the fireplace was going and the room seemed a little warmer than it usually was. William just hoped that the heat would reach his room before he went to bed.

William walked up the stairs that he knew very well for the past twelve years. His room hadn't changed either even though he wished it would. He put down his pack sack on the desk and went looking through his bag for the package he had started to open. The corner of the wrapping was already ripped so he continued to open it from there.

His eyes widened when he looked down at the black box with the golden writing on it, _Vermont's Chocolates._ He ripped off the plastic wrapping and opened the box to see eight different chocolates placed inside plastic holders. William hadn't been this excited for ages. All of these sweets were for him and his father wasn't around to take them away from him.

He reached in and took the dark brown square with a white surface. He took a little nibble out of it and enjoyed it. A great big smile came across his face as he finished the little delight. He closed the box before he lost control and ate all the chocolates. He wanted to save them so they would last him until he went back to school.

That night the only things that William dreamt about were chocolates and candies. He didn't know what was wrong with him; the chocolates seemed to have taken control of his mind. The only thing he was certain of was that he wanted to taste more.

The next morning he went out and bought almost all the candy and chocolates he could see. He didn't eat any of them in the public but waited when he got home to write down everything he thought about each candy he ate. William spent the whole day testing every single candy he bought but he never got to finish them since he father yelled up the stairs for meal times.

"William what have you been doing in your room for the whole day?"

"I have been finishing my holiday homework. My teachers gave me loads of it," he lied.

"I thought you would be more hungry when you work that much. Why aren't you eating?"

"I am not hungry."

He took his plate and put the left-over in the fridge for later if or when he was hungry. He said his thanks to his father and hurried back upstairs. When he walked into his room he forgot to put away his candies. He made a mental note never to leave them out in the open for his father to see though it was unlikely that his father would come into his room.

William was looking through his notes he had made during the day. He had finished a full thirty-two page notebook from cover to back with his thoughts on the sweets and also a picture of them. The clock hit midnight as he finished reading over his thoughts. He wasn't really happy with what he wrote. He needed more to write about, he needed more time and most of all he needed more to eat.

He rushed out of the house the next day with his bag packed with notebooks, his pencil case and of course money. He wanted to go to every sweet shop in town and taste every sweet there was to taste.

The day was almost over when William walked into his house and closed the door. He had made sure that no chocolate was stuck in his braces or that there was no trace of any chocolate anywhere. He set one foot in the hallway when his father turned the corner and spotted him. William could tell he wasn't very pleased.

"William where have you been?"

"I went for a little walk. I wanted to spend as much time in the snow as possible before spring comes around," he lied again.

"Poppycock! Tell me the truth William. Where did theses come from," he pulled out the box of chocolates.

William couldn't believe what he was seeing. Right in his father's hand was the box of chocolates that Emily had given him for Christmas. He thought he had put it into his pack sack before leaving the house this morning. Then he just remembered, he had left it on his desk with all the other sweets among all his homework.

"Emily gave it to me for Christmas," he looked up at his father.

"Emily Vermont? Well you shall never be allowed to see her again. Her and her sweets are not allowed in this house again," he threw them to the ground.

"There is nothing wrong with eating sweets. I have been eating them for the past two days and my nose isn't itching," William was getting angry.

"Candy is a waste of time. No son of mine is going to be a chocolatier," he raised his voice.

"Then I will run away to Switzerland, Bulgaria the candy capitals of the world."

"Go ahead. But I won't be here when you come back."

William picked up the box of chocolates from the floor, looked up at his father and left the house. He was walking down the street when he passed Emily's shop. The lights were still on and he could see both her parents still cleaning up. He pulled out a pen and paper from his bag and started to write a letter to her. He put it into an envelope and walked into the shop.

"I am sorry but we are closed," her mother looked up. "Oh it's you… William? I am sorry but Emily is gone for the night."

"It's alright Mrs. Vermont. Can you give this to her?" he handed her the envelope.

"I will as soon as she comes in tonight."

"Thank you and Happy Holidays."

She smiled and waved as he walked out of the shop and headed for the nearest train station. If he remembered what he learnt in Geography class he would have to take the train station to the ferry then go to the main land where he could start his candy exploration. He was going to taste all the candies in the world. That is what he wanted to do with his life.


	7. GoodByes and Hellos

Chapter 7 – Good-Byes and Hellos

Emily walked into her house from the back door since she was twenty minutes passed her curfew. She was just about to walk into her room when the hall lights went on and her mother was standing near the light switch. She didn't seem mad or anything. She was very calm. Her mother was holding a piece of paper in her hand and Emily wanted to know what it was.

"Emily, where have you been child? It's twenty after midnight," she looked at her watch.

"I lost track of time and stayed a little longer at my friend's house."

"Well, William stopped by just after the shop closed. He gave me this to give to you," she handed the letter to her.

Emily walked over and took the envelope. It had her name on the front written his nice cursive hand writing. Her mother looked over her shoulder to see what it said but Emily pulled away and walked into her room. She removed the piece of paper that was holding it together and started to read it. His nice hand writing flowed across the page as she read.

_Dear Emily,_

_I wanted to just thank you for the chocolates you gave me for Christmas. If I had known you were getting me something I would have gotten you something too. I'm sorry but Sunday will be the last time you'll see me. I am going away to travel all over the world to find out more about sweets. I can't stop thinking about them. My father won't allow me to stay home if I keep eating them. Hopefully I will come back to visit you but for the mean time I will be all over Europe. Thank you very much Emily._

_William Wonka_

She had to read it over and over to make sure it was really him. But she knew it was him because he wrote the way he talked and it made her smile. She looked at her watched and remembered that the trains always went through the night. She quickly ran down the stairs, grabbed her coat, ran outside to try and catch him before he went on the train.

"Please still be there," she kept on saying to herself.

She ran into the train station out of breathe but it was empty. There were no people standing around except the train conductor. Emily quickly walked up to him and tapped him on the shoulder. She was hoping that he could answer her question. She could only hope.

"Excuse me Sir? Have you seen a boy this tall and he is wearing metal braces and a headgear?"

"Yes I have little Miss."

"Can't you tell me where he went?"

"He went to catch the ferry which is heading to the main land. He said something about going all over Europe testing chocolates."

"Oh thank you Sir."

With the new information, Emily slowly walked back home. Her mother was waiting for her return and asked about William but she just walked into her room and closed the door behind her. Tears were welling up in her eyes and she wasn't afraid to let them fall down her cheeks. She didn't feel so good with the fact that she might never see William ever again. She got dressed in her pajamas and climbed into bed.

Five long years had passed and he never returned or sent any letters. She had graduated without him but no one noticed he was gone. Edward certainly was happy when he finally found out what happened. He thought he could get Emily back but she just pushed him away even more than before.

Emily had gotten a job at the local corner store a couple of buildings over from her father's shop. She refused to work at the shop because all the sweets reminded her of him. The corner store had an excellent view of the train station and every once and a while she would look out the window hoping to see him standing there. She always hoped.

It was not long before the Easter holiday that Emily had finally given up. She was soon turning twenty and had been waiting for her high school sweetheart to come back. She didn't even know if he was dead or alive. There were a lot of guys in the town that would gladly take her heart but they weren't like him. It was hard to find someone with those dark lavender blue eyes and the heart of gold.

The sun was setting and Emily was coming back from closing the shop. There was still snow on the ground but grass would be seen on the lawns and some flowers were starting to grow. She was walking up the street when she saw a man standing on the side walk starring across the street.

He was wearing the most unusual clothing. He wore a black top hat, his black jacket when to half way down his leg and underneath he seemed to be wearing more clothes. There was a huge suitcase right next to him with a 'W' on it and lots of other stickers showing places in Europe.

That's when Emily stopped dead in her tracks. It couldn't be him. He looked so different from when she saw him last. He wasn't wearing his headgear and he was much taller, even taller with his hat on. She slowly walked up to him and tapped him on the shoulder. Her heart was thumping against her chest and her face was becoming hot. She was hoping.

"William? William Wonka is that you?"

"There is no William here. There is only Willy Wonka."

The man turned around and looked down at the young woman. She had very long wavy dark auburn hair, her skin was some what tan and her shinning emerald eyes looked up at him. He smiled to show his brilliant straight teeth. He couldn't believe who it was.

"Emily?"

"Oh William it's been so long since I've seen you," she placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Emily you look so different from the last time I saw you. Your hair, it grew so long."

"I could say the same for you but yet your eyes stayed the same," she smiled.

"When did you get your braces off?"

"A couple of weeks after you left. After I got them off your father left too," she looked over at the empty lot.

"I wasn't expecting him to be here when I got back. He told me himself."

"You can come stay at my place until you get on your feet. I have an extra room you can stay in."

"Thank you very much Emily."

He picked up his suitcase and followed her back to her house. The town hadn't changed much since he last saw it. He was hoping that something exciting would have happened but it was a false hope. Her father's shop was still in business and they welcomed him back when they walked inside.

Her parents were thrilled to see him back and well. They offered him everything from food to blankets and ever extra clothes if he needed any. He refused the offer and followed Emily up the guest room which was right across the hall from her room.

"Here William, this will be your room. If you need anything I will be across the hall. Just knock before you enter."

"Thank you."

She said good-night and closed the door behind her. The room was very small and reminded him of his old room when he lived back with his father. But instead the walls were peach with a fruit border, there was a bed, a desk with a chair and of course a lamp for the desk. He sat down on the bed and started looking through his bag for his pajamas. When he found them he got dressed and slowly climbed into the bed.

Emily woke up early the next day. She didn't have to go to work since it was Sunday and no one worked on Sundays. The sun was just coming over the horizon and the birds were already singing away. She got dressed for the day and walked into the kitchen. William was sitting down at the table reading the newspaper.

"Good morning, William."

"Yah?"

"I see you're woke up rather early today. Do you have any plans?"

He kept on reading the newspaper not even looking up. She smiled softly and went to get herself something to eat from the fridge. As soon as she sat down with her mango William jumped up and ripped out of piece of the paper. He grabbed his coat, hat and ran out of the room before Emily could say anything.

He looked down at the piece of paper looking for the street that was marked on it. It wasn't very far, just up Cherry Street. The building was a good size for an old newspaper shop. He knocked on the door and someone opened it. It was an old man no taller than his hip. He was wearing small glasses that hung at the tip of his noise and his grey hair was every where.

"Can I help you?" he said in a low voice.

"Yes you had an advertisement in the newspaper about selling this shop," he handed him the piece of paper.

"Ah yes, are you interested? Then come in."

The little man stepped aside and William walked in. The main area had a lot of shelves and glass counters to put merchandise on. The man showed him around the building from top to bottom. There was the main area, then the back room which was bigger and then there was the upstairs.

"It's a very big shop. What are you planning to do with it?" he looked up at William.

"I am planning to open a sweet shop with everything from candy to chocolate. I can see it now. Willy Wonka's Sweet Shop," he gestured his arms wide showing where the banner would go.

"You seem to have a high spirit. I hope you have great success with your shop. If you need any workers to start out you can ask my nephew."

"Thank you for the offer. I better get ready. I only have a day to open," he crossed is arms.

"You are planning to open tomorrow," the man thought he was kidding.

"But of course. It will only take a few hours to get settled in. I better get started now."

He spun around and started to walk out of the building. He had to call so many people to deliver his things from the main land and he only had one day to do it. He was walking back to Emily's house when he pumped into her. She looked up at him and smiled.

"Where did you go?"

"To the shop up the street to buy it, now I am heading back down to get my belongings delivered," he continued to walk.

"The shop? You mean the old newspaper shop? Why did you buy that?"

"Well obviously if someone buys something they tend to use it, dear Emily."

"But what are you going to use it for? What stuff are you getting delivered? What are you planning?" she was getting frustrated since she wasn't getting any answers out of him.

"Oh my dear Emily, patience is a virtue."

He walked into the house and picked up his suitcase. He walked into the kitchen to use the phone which was right next to the fridge. Emily walked into the room when he was halfway through his conversation. She waited patiently for him to finish and then opened her mouth to speech.

"William why don't you answer my questions?"

"I am very busy Emily. You will have to come back later. Maybe tonight around nine, up the street," he pointed his index finger in that direction.

"Alright."

She watched him walked down the hall, pick up his things and leave the house. He seemed so different from the last time she saw him. The way he talked, the way he walked, the way he looked and the way he treated her. They were all so different like if he wasn't the William Wonka she knew five years ago. She sighed, picked up her coat and went for a walk.

The day passed by very slowly for Emily. She went to the park and sat at the swings, thinking. She could remember the last time she was here with him. It felt like it just happened yesterday. It was nearing nine o'clock when Emily finally stood up to start walking to his little shop.

Cherry Street was deserted, all the shops were closed and she slowly walked on the side walk. When she looked up she could see the shop and the lights were still on but newspapers covered the window. She knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer but no one did.

She slowly opened the door and poked in her head. The main area was already filled with sweets on the counters and shelves. Emily couldn't believe what she was seeing. In one section there were chocolates bars that said Wonka Bar, another section had huge lollipops and the rest were sweets she had never seen before.

The store was decorated with bright colours. It looked like it had been there for ages. She heard noise coming from the back room and poked her head in. William was standing next to a table full of papers. He seemed to be calculating or counting something. She walked up behind him to see what he was doing."

"What an impressive shop you have here."

"Ah!" he jumped back.

"Don't worry it's just me," she smiled.

"You are earlier than I expected," he started to put away the papers.

"You settled down pretty quickly. So tell me, where have you been for the past five years?"

"First, let's get some tea. Here come."

He turned around and started to walk towards a blue door on the other side of the room. He opened it and walked up the stairs. Emily followed him but had no clue where they were going. He opened another door and they seemed to be in a small apartment on top of the shop.

William gestured her to sit on one of the chairs as he took off his coat and hat. He walked over to the fridge and pulled out two cups and walked back to the table. He placed it in front of her and sat down. Emily took the cup and drank some.

"William what is this?" she said licking her lips.

"It's hot chocolate," he took a sip.

"But you just took it out of the fridge. Wouldn't it be cold?"

"Well it's hot chocolate, if it was cold then it wouldn't be called hot chocolate now would it?

"Very true. Now tell me where did you go?"

He put down the cup and gave her a smile. He seemed like he had been waiting all this time for her to ask that question. He told her about what happened at his house the night he ran away. Emily listened to every word that came out of his mouth. She wanted to hear what he had been doing all this time.

He continued after he took another sip of his hot chocolate. He told her about the places he went to visit and all the sweets he got to taste. She had heard of all the places he was talking about but never knew they had all those sweets. He had also met some very interesting candy and chocolate makers on his travels he decided to start making his own chocolate.

Emily was very surprised on how much he had traveled. It seemed he went to every major city in Europe. The one thing that amazed her the most was the fact that he came back to the little town to start his own chocolate business. He finished his cup and finished telling her everything.

"So you have done a lot. I am just glad you are the same old William," she smiled.

He flinched at the name and smiled awkwardly. She noticed this and looked up at him with a confused look on her face. He let out a little giggle tilting his head slightly to the right and stood up. He took his cup over to the sink and rinsed it out. She knew there was something wrong and walked up to him.

"William what's wrong?" she wrapped her arms around.

"I am not William anymore. I am Willy Wonka the chocolatier."


	8. It All Starts Here

Chapter 8 – It All Starts Here

Life went back to normal except for that fact that the whole world wanted Willy's candy and chocolate. He would spend most of the day in his shop with his workers working on new candies or chocolates to sell. Emily only got to chance to see him at night when the store closed. They would either meet at his house or hers.

The shop was a great success. Hundreds of sweets were being sold a day. Soon there were being requests to open more shops around the world but Willy refused the offer. He wanted to stay in the little town because he had big plans up his sleeve.

One night he was invited over to Emily's house for Thanksgiving dinner and he was thrilled to go. It had been a very long time since he had seen her parents and he wanted to talk to them again. Plus it was about time he went out for instead of being in his shop all alone.

Like always Emily answered the door with a great big smile on her face. She took his coat and hat and hung it up on the rack near the entrance. He walked into the foyer and was greeted by her mother. She gave him a big huge and welcomed him home. She really hadn't changed much besides the grey streaks in her hair and the few wrinkles around her eyes.

"Oh William it has been too long since I last saw you. You have changed so much," she smiled.

"It's nice to see you again," he smiled.

"You must be hungry. Come on into the dinning room. Dinner will be served soon."

Willy sat down opposite side from Emily and her parents at each end of the table. The supper looked great with turkey, potatoes, three kinds of salads, carrots and beans and of course vegetables. They had little conversation when they were eating but it was an interesting one.

"So William, how's your shop coming along. I hear it's a great success from Emily here," her father spoke up.

"Yes it's a great success. I am very proud of it."

"Where did you get all these ideas for candies? You must have a very creative mind," her mother smiled.

"I have thought a lot about it and I make whatever comes to mind," he smiled.

"Do you have any plans to make your shop bigger?"

Willy hesitated for a moment before putting down his fork. Emily noticed he looked a little unsure of himself. Both her parents looked at him waiting for the answer but instead his looked up and smiled awkwardly.

"This turkey is really great. Mrs. Vermont you are a really great cook," he changed the subject.

"Why thank you. I try my best when I cook."

There wasn't much conversation after that. They continued to eat in silence. Emily would look up at Willy from time to time to see if he was alright. He seemed to be in deep thought but yet he knew his surroundings.

When everyone had finished, they had cleared the table and Emily went outside to get some fresh hair. Willy joined her outside. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and placed his cheek on her head. She seemed to flinched at his touch and he pulled away.

"William you've changed," she said softly.

"Dear Emily, five years is a long time for a person to change."

"But I fell in love with the William who was sweet and attentive. Now you are some grown up obsessed with sweets," she crossed her arms.

"Emily…" he reached out to touch her but she turned away.

She mumbled something under her breath and walked away. Willy quickly walked after her. He tried talking to her but she wouldn't talk or even look at him. The only thing he could do was follow her in silence to make sure she was alright.

Willy noticed immediately where they were. It was the park that she showed him when they were in high school together. The place looked exactly the same as the last time he had seen it. Emily had stopped right in front of the swings and put her arms down.

"Do you remember when I brought you here for the first time?" it sounded like she wanted to cry.

"Emily I could never forget that day. It was the happiest day of my life," he stood right next to her.

"Why can't things go back the way they were? When it was only use two and nothing more," she turned to face him.

"But things must change. A person grows when they get older but they could still be the same inside," he smiled.

"I just missed you so much. I waited for you everyday hoping you would come back," she wrapped her arms around him.

"Dear Emily, you were in my thoughts everyday as well. I was waiting for the day that I would see your lovely face again."

Emily smiled softly as they held each other. She felt safe and warm in his arms. Willy placed his cheek on her head and held her tight. The sun was setting behind them and it looked so beautiful. He pulled away and kissed her softly on the lips.

"I love you Emily," he said softly holding her close.

Within weeks Willy started to act like his old self again. He and Emily spent most of the day together. Sometimes she would take time off work to go see him at work and test out some new sweets he had just invented that morning. Life could not be any better than it was.

Until one snowy night, Willy had been sitting at his desk for more than five hours drawing up plans. He hadn't showed it to anyone yet and he was having some problems calculating. Emily had walked into the room but he continued to draw away. She looked over his should to see what he was doing but she couldn't figure it out.

Willy sighed and stood up. He put down his pencil and ruler. She placed her hand on his shoulder and he jumped half a mile away. Emily kissed him softly on the cheek and huge him. A smile appeared on his face and he seemed to brighten up.

"Tough day at work?" she asked.

"Tougher than others and these plans are really hard."

"Plans for what? Are you making improvements on the store or something?"

"Even better than that, in a few days I will be making the biggest chocolate factory ever built, fifty times bigger than any other," he was all excited about.

"Well I am happy for you. It's great to see you working your way up that ladder after four years of being stuck in this shop."

"Yes dear Emily but I waited four years for a reason. I needed all my ideas to be unleashed so I could fill every single room in this factory. This is going be marvelous."

"So you are going to be quite busy with this factory of yours?"

"Well of course. I am the one who has to make sure it's going right," he smiled.

"So you won't be seeing me then?"

"If I have time in my schedule but just in case I don't… here."

Willy went looking through his coat, in every pocket, looking for something. Emily stood right in front of him waiting patiently as he kept on looking. He finally reached into one pocket and smiled. He pulled out a small black box and handed it to her. She took it and slowly opened the box. Inside laid a gold chain with a locket on it in shape of a heart.

"Oh William…it's beautiful."

"I saw it the other day and thought about you. Look what it says on it," he pointed to it.

"'Always in my Heart'. I love it. Thank you," she hugged him.

"You're very welcome."

Emily let go and took the chain out from the box. She tied it around her neck and smile. It looked so beautiful on her when it sparkled in the light. He smiled down at her and their eyes locked. She took his hands and brought him upstairs. He didn't know what she was planning.

She stopped right in front of his bedroom and smiled. This was no ordinary smile but it looked like she was planning something. Willy just stood their a little lost and just smiled awkwardly. She kissed on the lips for a long time.

"William, I love you with all my heart."

"As do I."

"I just don't want this to end. I want out love to last forever."

Emily brought him into his bedroom. They looked into each other eyes and started to kiss each other. It was in the heat of the moment. They showed how much they loved each other all night long. They slept next to each other until late the next morning.

It had been a few weeks since their night together and Willy had been a bit busy with the factory. The construction workers had started building it and everything was going according to plan. He looked at the plans and smiled. It was going to be perfect.

It was around lunch time and he was consulting the underground passages with one of the workers when he heard arguing. He turned around to see Emily talking to one of the workers. He caught her eye and she waved to him. She immediately walked passed the worker and up to him.

"Hello William," she smiled and she noticed him wincing at the name again.

"Sorry about the workers. I told them not to let any of the town's people to come into the area. Anyway, what brings you here?"

"I am going away for a couple for weeks to the Bahamas with my parents. It's kind of sort notice but they have to take the time off."

"So I you won't be seeing the factory when it opens?" he looked a little sad.

"It will be ready in three weeks?" She thought he was kidding.

"Of course it will. Maybe even in two weeks. It may be big to build but a have a lot of workers working on this factory," he turned around and gestured towards the people.

"Then I promise to come back in time to see it. I will be there when you cut the red ribbon," she smiled.

"Okay, you go have fun in the bananas."

"Bahamas," she corrected him.

"Pajamas," he looked down at her and smiled.

"Where ever I am going I promise I will be back to see it open."

"Have a nice trip."

She kissed him softly on the cheek and walked her way back through the workers to meet her parents. He waved to her before she climbed into the car and drove away. He quickly turned around and continued to talk to the worker. He had to get a least the layout of the passages done by tonight.

The days rolled by and the factory was slowly starting to take shape. All the underground rooms and passages had been built. The main floor had to be planned out before the end of the second week.

"Mr. Wonka?" said one of the workers.

"Yeah?" he was looking over some plans.

"We are having a little trouble with these passages here."

"But that is the most important room in the whole factory."

"Yes I know but the waterfall will be difficult to connect to these passages," the workers pointed on the plans.

"Well, they must connect. I will let you figure it out."

With those final words Willy walked off to see if the elevators were being built right. He had to be all over the place to make sure everything was perfect. The only thing he was worried about was finishing the factory on time.

Willy would stay up late every night checking to see the progress and estimating how long it would take to finish. He wanted it to be complete just in time for Emily to see it and the fact that the little shop on Cherry Street would be closing soon.

In the middle of the second week, the progress was on schedule and everything was working smoothly. On that same day he received a letter from Emily. He was looking over the construction for the smoke stalks when a mailman walked up to him with a thick envelope. He thanked him and started to open the letter. It was filled with one piece of paper and a few pictures.

The pictures showed Emily and her parents sailing, on the beach and at the hotel. She looked ever more tanned then usual but her eyes glowed in the pictures. He smiled and put them in his inside pocket then he turned his attention to the letter.

_Dear William,_

_I was just checking in to tell you that I will be arriving on time to see your wonderful chocolate factory open. I hope the construction is on time because I know how much you want it up and running. The Bahamas are great. I have been tanning lately since that is the only thing I can really do. Well, enjoy the pictures and I will see you soon. I miss you._

_Love, Emily_

Willy smiled at the letter and put it away with the pictures. Now he couldn't wait for her to come back so he could show her around the factory. She would be the first to have an official tour of the colossal factory.

The night before the big opening day he was walking through the whole place checking to see if everything was in place and perfect. He loved the factory and when he was walking through he could imagine the impact it was going to have on his company. But he was going to have to wait until tomorrow to see.

There were reporters, camera men and town's people. Willy was waiting outside for the clock to strike twelve. The people were watching his every move. Pictures were being taken, the cameras were rolling and reporters were talking. Willy looked at his watch to see the time. He prepared the scissors to cut the red ribbon which was in front of the metal gates of the factory.

The minute hand struck twelve and he cut the ribbon. The gates opened and he slowly walked through them. The crowd was going crazy with cheers and cries for Willy Wonka and his factory. He spun around and posed for the cameras.

While lights were flashing and cameras rolling, he looked through the crowd for Emily. He looked for a tanned girl with dark auburn hair and shinning green eyes but he never found her. The reporters started to ask him questions but he just kept scanning the crowds for her. He knew she was in there same where since she did promise him that she would be there.

The crown was starting to die down and Willy started to walk back to his old shop to collect his belongs for his new room. He looked around the empty shop at the fawned memories it had but he had to move on and make more memories.

He was walking back to the factory and walked by Emily's house. There were still no light on or no sign of life. He signed as he continued up the street. The sun was setting and it started to snow on the already covered streets.

The gates were still open but before he walked through he noticed that there was a letter in the mail box. He opened the box and pulled out the envelope. It was full of stamps and really bad hand writing. He was hoping it was from Emily but it wasn't. Willy placed the letter in his pocket and walked into the factory gates. They closed behind him and he heard the metal lock together. He looked up at the finished factory and smiled proudly.

He dropped the suitcase on his bed and looked around his new room. It was way more colorful than any other room he had ever been in. It had a caramel color to the wall, brown carpets, plume blankets and it smelt like peanuts. It was the perfect to think about his new chocolate reactions.

The letter popped back into his head, he reached into his coat pocket and pulled it out. He wondered where it came from because to have that many stamps on it, it must be from some where far away. He ripped open the envelope and started to read it.

_Dear Mr. Wonka,_

_I am Prince Pondicherry from Delhi, India. I would like to request that you come over here and build me a palace entirely made of chocolate. I will pay for everything if you agree on this. Please come over here as soon as possible._

_(Signed) Prince Pondicherry_

Willy read over the letter over and over again. He thought that this prince was surely kidding about the entire palace being made of chocolate. Without wasting time he wrote a letter saying that he will come out to India and make his palace.

The next day around mid afternoon, he was catching on airplane directly to the meet the prince in person. He had told all his workers to take two weeks vacation for the time he was away. All his workers thanked him a million times over.

When he was walking through the airport everyone kept on starring at him. Not just because he was dressed a little weird but the fact that he had a cane and top hat. The locals weren't used to this and kept their eyes on him when he walked by.

Willy enjoyed the ride to the airport. He had a lot of time to read and think of new ideas as the woman next to him kept on giving him dirty looks but he didn't mind at all since soon he would be in India very soon.

Emily jumped out of the car and up to the factory gates. It didn't seem that anyone was there since none of the lights were on. There wasn't even smoke coming out of the smokestacks. She looked around for someone to ask what was going on. An old man was walking by and she walk up to him.

"Excuse me Sir? Do you know where Willy Wonka is?"

"He has gone to India for the next two weeks to build a palace for the prince."

"How do you know?"

"He told all his workers to take two weeks vacation."

"Thank you," she smiled.

She walked disappointedly back to the car and told her parents about what she just heard. They apologized for being late but it really wasn't their fault that the plane was delayed because of weather issues. Emily would have to wait two more weeks to see Willy even thought she wanted to see him now.


	9. Prince Pondicherry

Chapter 9 - Prince Pondicherry

Willy arrived safely in India and was escorted to the prince immediately so that the building could start. They traveled on camels to where the prince was standing. It seemed to be in the middle of the desert but yet it was near a tropical forest. When Willy got off of the camel the prince greeted him with open arms.

"Welcome Mr. Wonka," he said with his Indian accent.

"Prince Pondicherry I presume?"

"Yes, yes. I hope your trip was pleasant."

"Yes, very much so. I also finished the blue prints on the way here."

The chocolatier reached into one of the bags on the camel and pulled out three rolled up pieces of papers. He flattened them on one of the tables under the tent that the prince was staying in. One of them showed the outside of the palace, one was the inside and the other was the different recipes for the different chocolates.

"I planned it to have one hundred rooms and everything will be made of different types of chocolate."

The prince seemed to be very happy with the plans and immediately called all of his servants to help Willy get started on the building. The servants placed everything where it was supposed to go while Willy mixed all the chocolate and made the various necessities.

Everything was made from white or dark chocolate. Willy made sure of it. He designed all the bricks, furniture and structure out of chocolate. The servants were always hungry when they were building since they were always exposed to the nice smell of melting chocolate.

It was half way done on the building of the main structure when Willy caught of one the servants tasting one of the supports and he ran over. The servant froze in his tracks when he saw the chocolatier running up to him yelling.

"What are you going? The chocolate has not yet been settled."

"But, sir, chocolate does not have to settle," the servant stood up.

"This is no ordinary chocolate. This is my chocolate and it must be done in a certain way."

Before he could respond Willy quickly turned around and spotted another person eating away at some more chocolate. This was one of the main problems he had when building the palace and he couldn't believe that he never saw the prince once during building.

Within days the palace was complete and Willy finally saw the prince coming back on a camel. He seemed very happy to see the chocolatier and he wanted to know how the project was going. Immediately when he heard it was complete he ran over to his new palace to look at it.

Willy followed him as he walked through all the rooms testing to see if everything worked and how it looked from different angles. He seemed very pleased with the details and the hard work that was put into it.

"I love it. It's stupendous."

"Yes but it won't last forever. You must start eating it right now," he warned the prince.

"Mr. Wonka, I am not going to eat my palace. That would be silly. What would I live in then?"

"An actually palace make of metal or whatever they make palaces out of."

"But I rather live here. I love the smell of chocolate."

The prince walked over to his throne and sat in it. He seemed very happy in his new palace and Willy wanted to go back to his factory now. The prince thanked him many times before allowed him to board the plane back to England. All the locals were now excited to see the prince's new chocolate palace.

Sadly not to long after Willy left that his words came back to haunt the prince. He was very happy in his chocolate house with his wife and they were always throwing parties. When it was the prince birthday it happened to be a very hot day as well.

When all the guests were enjoying themselves and awing at the detail in the walls and furniture the ceiling was slowly melting from the heat outside. One of the prince's brothers was looking up at the one of the pictures when drops of thick brown liquid fell onto his face and he looked around to see what it was.

The prince just shrugged and continued to socialize with his guests when a little more of that brown liquid fell down onto his wife. The party had stopped and the prince wanted to know where this was coming from. Within moment more of the liquid was coming down and the roof was slowly melting away.

All the guests were running out of the palace before all the chocolate melted onto them. The prince was the last one to leave his palace but when he turned around it wasn't there anymore. It had turned into a huge chocolate river.

He was not impressed at all and he was hoping for this palace to last forever. Then the chocolatier's words came into his thoughts and he immediately sent him a letter asking for a new palace to show off to his friends. Sadly he never received a respond so he just had to live in a normal palace which did not smell of chocolate.


	10. I'm Sorry

Chapter 10 - I'm Sorry

It had been a few weeks since Willy came back from India. The factory was going well and all the workers seemed to be very happy. The day he came back he called Emily but she went back to work full time at the newspaper shop down the street and he couldn't find any time to go see her.

He would leave messages asking her if she could come to the factory one night or that they could go out for dinner but she would always cancel saying she wasn't feeling well. Willy missed her company more and more. He missed her smile and bright green eyes. But at the moment he was worrying about more important things.

For strange reasons his sales had been going down since he came back and other candy shops had been doing well all of a sudden. All three candy shops had been selling the same candies has his factory and Willy couldn't understand why.

Everyday Willy would think up new ideas for candies and make them that very night to be put up on shelves for the next day. But when that day came those same candy shops had already started selling the same candy the night before. He would get so frustrated and think up more ideas.

"This is outrageous! This is silly!" he yelled. "How can they be selling more than me? I have the biggest factory in the world with the most workers."

At that very moment it just hit him. There were spies in the factory. Willy would walk around the workers to catch the one who kept on stealing his secret recipes and bringing them outside the factory walls but he never did.

The thievery just became worst and worst. Before long Willy couldn't think of any new candy ideas. Willy thought it over many times before coming to the conclusion and there was no turning back. He had no choice but to close his factory.

The next day when the workers were coming in to do their day of work he stopped them. Willy couldn't bring himself to telling his workers about the bad news but he took a deep breathe and raised the mega phone that was in his hands.

"I am closing my factory forever. I'm sorry."

Emily heard about the news in one of the newspapers and she immediately took her break. There were crowds of people in front of the factory gates and she could see Willy standing on the steps in front of the main doors. She pushed her way through the crowd to reach the front gates but everyone was pushing her away. She looked over the people to see him turn away and start walking towards the doors.

"William." She screamed.

The workers started to head in different directions and it was easier to reach the metal gates. She screamed his name again and saw him hesitate before walking into his factory.

"William!"

Emily reached the gates but they were locked. She screamed his name and tried to open the gates. It was no hope; the huge metal locks weren't going to open ever again. She would never see him again.

Her father walked up to her as she started to cry. He used to work in the factory since his sweet shop closed a couple of years ago. Willy had given him the job since they needed the money.

"It's alright Emily."

"Papa, how can I be alright? I don't even know if I will see him again," she wiped her tears.

"You will see him again. I know you will."

Emily gave a half smile and took a few deeps breaths. Her father always had a way to cheer her up. He did the same when Willy left for Europe all those years ago. He told her the same thing and he came back to her. She was hoping that it would happen again.

They walked home together as the snow crumbled under their feet and as the flakes fell on their warm skin. February weather wasn't always the best but soon spring would come and the flowers would start to grow.

Emily knew deep down inside that she would be seeing him again. They were connected in every way possible and soon their longing for each other will bring another meeting. She knew this but she just had to be patient about it.

She looked at the chocolate factory before helping her father back inside the house. There was no more smoke coming out of the stakes or any lights on. The factory was actually closed. Emily smiled softly as she walked back inside.


	11. Never Let Go

Chapter 11 - Never Let Go

The streets were bleached white with all the snow, the air smelt like melted chocolate and two shimmering emerald eyes looked up at the great metal gates of Mr. Wonka's chocolate factory. Amber passed this same factory everyday on her way to high school. She always wondered what it looked like inside its grey exterior. What wonderful things were made in that factory, like candies and chocolates of all kinds.

She could stand there all day thinking about extraordinary things that lay behind those great gates. The only thing that came out of those gates was the candy. She had never seen one worker or even Mr. Wonka come out. There were so many questions in her head but no one could answer them. She looked at her watch to see it was almost time for dinner.

The girl walked into the house and it was silent. It seemed that her mother was still in her room. She walked into the kitchen and started to look through the fridge for something to eat. At the same time she was reheating some left over food. She cooked all the meals on Sunday then just put them in the freezer. It had been like this since the day both her grandparents died.

They were coming home from vacation a few years ago and there was a horrible rain storm. Amber and her mom were in one car and both her grandparents were in another. Her car was in the lead when they turned up Main Street but when they arrived at home her grandparents never showed. It was a few days later when the policemen came to their door when they found out they were both killed in a car accident off the high way.

Life had become a little harder since then. She had a lot to balance on her shoulders but she didn't mind. Amber was always busy with school, house keeping and taking care of her mother when normal kids her age were chancing after boys and playing with make-up.

She picked up a tray full of food, slowly walked up the stairs to her mother's room and she opened the door to see her sitting up, looking out the window. When the door closed she snapped out of her daze and looked at her daughter. Her mother's skin had become paler and her eyes were loosing their brilliance. She truly did look sick.

"Amber, you are home early. I didn't see you walk down the street."

"I took the back route. It's way faster," she placed the tray on the bed.

"How was your day?" she coughed.

"It was good, I guess. The boys won't stop following me. It's starting to get on my nerves."

"Don't worry honey. I was the same at your age. You will find that perfect someone. I know I did," she smiled and looked out the window.

Amber pushed back a lock of her dark brown hair and tried to eat her sandwich. Her mother was diagnosed with a disease that doesn't a have a cure yet about a few months after her grandparents died. The doctor said that it was because of depression and that she only had days to live but she is still living even after two years.

Her mother came out of her daydream and started to eat her soup. Amber noticed that she would day dream or daze out a lot and look out the window. She never knew why but never dared to ask since it might hit a nerve that would cause her mother to cry but she felt different today. She finished her meal and look up at her mom with her emerald eyes.

"Maman, why do you always look out the window?"

"Because look at the great view of the factory. It's such a mysterious place. No one ever comes in or out but the candy.

"I wonder when the last time Mr. Wonka came out," she looked out the window.

"Fifteen years ago, six months before you were born," her mother slower her head.

"Did you ever see Mr. Wonka?"

Her mother smiled slowly disappeared. Amber thought twice before asking and she looked down. She didn't know much about her mother. They used to be very close before her grandparents died. They would always spend time together. The usually mother-daughter relationship, going to the park, shopping and talking about boys. Her mother looked up and out of the window.

"I knew him once," she said in a low voice.

"Wouldn't it be nice if you would see him again?" Amber smiled.

Her mother didn't answer. Her head was slightly titled to one side, her wavy auburn hair was in her face and her emerald eyes were starting to water. Amber noticed this and started to clean up. The idea of seeing her mother cry made her heart break. She said good-night and left the room.

It was always the same. Every time Amber mentioned Mr. Wonka or his factory. Her mother would start to cry or just gaze out the window. It was like she would avoid the topic totally. She could never get anything out of her but those stupid tears.

Amber headed down the hall to her room. It was getting late and she had a huge geography exam tomorrow. She took off her school uniform and dressed into her pajamas. She also took of her head band and golden necklace. Her mother had given her this necklace when she was very young. She said that someone very important gave it to her when she was young. Amber wore it everyday sine that was what her mother wanted.

She climbed into her bed and looked out the window at the stars. The sky was full of millions of bright little lights. Then one of them went shooting through the sky. Amber closed her eyes and wished upon that star before going to sleep.


	12. Five Golden Tickets

Chapter 12 – Five Golden Tickets

School was becoming very boring. The Thanksgiving holidays passed too quickly and everyone was back to the normal routine of the two-day weekends. Homework was being piled on in every subject and Amber didn't know if she could handle it anymore. The geography and math homework was driving her crazy with the different capitals and complicated formulas.

The final bell rang and she quickly stood up, picking up all her books to leave. Before she could open the door to leave her teacher yelled out the homework pages and she groaned with the rest of the class. When the teacher was done she turned around and ran into the door thinking that it was open. The whole class turned their heads towards the bang and noticed that Amber had just walked into the door. They all started to point and laugh as she rubbed her red head. Some of the students walked around her and through the door laughing.

"Nice one, Vermont. You are as dumb as the door knob you forgot to turn," one of the girls laughed.

Amber was the last to leave the class with a huge red mark on her forehead where she banged her head into the glass. Many of the students were looking at her in the hallway and giggling to their friend next to them. The word had already passed around and it just happened two minutes ago. The gossip in the school was terrible when it came down to embarrassing moments.

This was her life. She was the oddball in her class and that gave the other students a good reason to pick on her. She didn't really have many friends since they were more interested in girl hobbies like going to mall or painting their nails. Amber liked to draw and make up stories. Her head was always in the clouds and that made her 'weird'. No one had anything in common with her. She felt as if she was the only one on earth.

She quickly packed her school bag and rushed out of the school before anything else bad could happen. On the way out some of the girls in her class were imitating her running into the door and even the younger grades were laughing at her. She just buried herself in her jacket and quickly left the school grounds. There was a strong sorrow in the heart but she did not want to cry.

Amber was walking back from school wrapped tightly in her black coat and scarf. The December days were growing colder and January was just around the corner. The core of winter was soon coming and most people just refused to go outside. The schools were even considering making the Christmas holidays a week longer if the cold weather kept getting worse. The students were all for it but they didn't realize how much work they would have to do.

She looked up to see a bunch of people standing around the telephone pole. A few kids pushed by her to see what all the commotion was all about. She walked up curiously to see what they were looking at and on the wooden pole was a sign. It seemed to be a notice from someone. The crowd seemed to loosen up and she got the chance to read it.

_Dear People of the World,_

_I, Willy Wonka, have decided to allow five children to visit my factory this year. Five Golden Tickets have been hidden under the ordinary wrapping paper of five ordinary Wonka's Bar. These five candy bar maybe anyway, in any shop, on any street, in any town, in any country, in the world. In addiction, one of these children will win a special prize beyond anything you can ever imagine._

_(Signed) Willy Wonka_

Amber smile became bigger and bigger as she read the noticed over a few times becuase she couldn't believe what was happening. This was the chance to get her mother out of bed and go see Mr. Wonka again. She rushed home, ran up the stairs as she threw off her boots and ran into her mother's room. She was sitting upright and looking out the window.

"Maman, I have the greatest news," Amber walked up to the bed.

"What is it, dear?"

"I just read that Mr. Wonka is giving out five Golden Ticket and the five lucky children will be able to go inside the factory."

Her mother's face lightened up and she looked young again. Amber knew that it would brighten up her day so much and she could tell her mother was excited. But sadly, it went away when she started to cough violently. Amber held her hand and calmed her down. It seemed she wasn't ready for this much excitement.

"What am I thinking? I don't have a chance and even if I did you're not well enough."

"I would to anything in the world to go into that factory."

"I will try to find that ticket. I want you to go."

Her mother smiled sweetly and kissed her on the forehead. Amber didn't have the slightest clue how much that golden ticket meant to her. But if getting that ticket meant for her mother to get better then she would do anything get one. They ate supper in silence knowing that bringing up the subject would only make them more excited than before.

That night after cleaning and homework, Amber stayed in her room counting all the money she had saved up. It was good that she only got money for her birthday and Christmas since no one knew what really to get her. She didn't worry since there was enough to buy over one hundred chocolate bars.

Amber smiled all night long just thinking about going into that factory and just being around the best chocolate maker in the world. She looked down her window to look upon the factory. So many wonders were made inside those factory walls. It made her have shivers down her spine just thinking about it. After many hours of thinking, sleep finally took her.

On the way to school, Amber passed five shops that were already sold out of Wonka Bars. She couldn't believe it. All the signs said 'Sold Out' or 'Re-stocking'. She knew she had to wait a few more days to have her chance at finding one of the golden tickets. There was still a small chance that she would actually get one of those tickets but she kept thinking of her mother and the hope grew.

The day passed by very slowly as the only thing she could think of was that ticket. All her classmates had forgotten about the event the previous day since they were more worried about getting one of those golden tickets. Everyone was ripping open candy bars and sighing at the sight of only the delicious chocolate.

The school bell rang and Amber walked home alone again. No one is the school lived in the area she lived and it was kind of depressing. They lived near the center of the town where Amber lived on the outskirts. She always thought how lucky she was. Every day she got to pass the greatest building in the whole town, Wonka's Chocolate Factory

She passed by one of the newspaper shops to see that someone had already found the first golden ticket. She didn't have time to read who it was because she quickly passed by. Amber knew that it would be all over the news when she turned on the television. She felt jealous for the children who had their ticket. She didn't want to think about them.

Of course she was right. When Amber walked into the room the television was on and her mom was flicking through the channels, looking for the six o'clock news. Amber brought over their supper and sat down next to her. They talked as the channels were being flicked and it seemed to be another boring day. Her mom stopped at one channel and it showed the news.

The first Golden Ticket was found by a nine year old boy in Germany. He was no ordinary boy since he was enormous. His curly ginger haired seemed nothing against his pudgy, beige face. It showed him standing next to his mother, who was equal in weight, in a sausage shop. There were reporters everywhere holding out recorders and taking his picture. He smiled at every camera and in his hand was another freshly opened Wonka Bar. There was chocolate all over his chubby cheeks and on his large fingers. His striped shirt was a little too tight for him and some of his stomach was bulging out over his pants. The boy finished eating the piece of candy and faced the reporters.

"I am eating ze chocolate bar and I taste something that wasn't chocolate. I tried to figure what kind of food it was until I looked and I find ze Golden Ticket," he said in his German accent.

"Augustus, how did you celebrate?" asked one of the reporters.

"I eat candy," he reached into his pocket and fished out another bar.

"We knew Augustus would find the ticket," said his mother. "He eats so many chocolate bars that it was bound to pop up."

The reporters demanded more questions and pictures. His mother pulled him close and showed the golden ticket. His parents and town seemed to be very happy for this chocolate loving boy. Plus now that town was bound to be on maps more often now. They were preparing for the hundreds for tourists that would come to see the boy who won the first golden ticket.

"How degrading being that fat," Amber snared.

"He is going to have a blast at the factory, that's for sure," her mom looked at her.

"If he doesn't than that chocolate has gotten to his head. I bet you one day all that eating will get him in trouble," she crossed her arms.

"You act so much like your father."

Amber slowly looked up at her mother and uncrossed her arms. It wasn't very often that she talked about her father usually only when Amber did something that reminded her of him. Amber never actually knew her father, which made it more aggravating when she commented. There were no pictures of him anywhere and her father being a mystery wants her to know him more.

Her mother giggled and they finished their supper. Tomorrow would be a very hectic day since the first ticket was found. Everyone would be buying up all the candy bars in the town and talking about it. It would be hard not to hear about the fat German boy from now on. At least until the next child appeared on the news.

Amber sighed as she finished cleaning the dished and started walking up the stairs to her room. She thought about her mother and the reaction she would have if she found one of the golden tickets. It had been so many years since she had seen her mother very happy. Their life was perfect before the deaths and disease. She just wanted to have that ticket and she wanted her mother to smile again.

The next day was how she had expected it to be like. All the boys and girls were talking about the fat boy from Germany. She just buried her head in her arms and sighed. It wouldn't take long until the next ticket would be found then the madness would be even worse and so on until they were all found. There was no hope for her now. There were too many people and only five golden tickets. It would take a miracle.

The days dragged on and there was no hearing about any of the other tickets until one night at the eleven o'clock news. Amber had kept on the television while she sat and did some homework and when she heard the news she turned her attention to the television.

There was a little girl from England standing in between both her parents and smiling from ear to ear holding her golden ticket. She was pretty short compared to her parents and she looked very spoiled with the rich clothing. Her mother didn't help with the snobby look on her face. Once again there were a bunch of reporters and cameramen asking their questions and taking pictures.

"Veruca? How did you get your golden ticket?" asked one of the reporters.

"My Daddy got it for me," she said with her British accent.

"Well gentlemen," Mr. Salt began. "When my little girl said that she had to have one of those golden tickets I went out immediately and started to buy all the chocolate bars in the city. I wanted to make her happy, you see, because I hate to see her sad. I had trouble at the beginning but here we are now with a golden ticket."

Veruca smiled happily as her father told the story and the reporters were going crazy. Her father must have loved his daughter a lot to go through all that trouble to find her that ticket. It was quite sad how he gave her everything she wanted. It would only get worse in time. She would keep asking for more every time she got what she wanted.

"What a spoiled brat," her mother snapped.

"You should be overjoyed that I didn't turn out like that," she giggled.

"I can't believe her father gives her everything."

"Well, nothing good will come out of it."

Amber sighed as she sat next to her mother. She hadn't even had a chance at finding the ticket yet and she didn't want to tell her mother that but tomorrow would be the day where she could buy her first Wonka Bar. She was waiting for the right moment to buy it. Her mother placed a hand on her shoulder and gave a wry smile. The illness had made her skin very pale and her eyes had lost all its life. It was depressing to see her like this and Amber wanted it to go away. She wanted life to come back to that face and for happiness to spread.

Thursday would be, hopefully, the lucky day. Amber sneaked into the near by candy shop early before going to school. She didn't want anyone from her school to see she was buying a chocolate bar. There was just a new shipment that morning so she wasn't going to worry about not getting one.

"I would like a scrumptious fudge mallow delight," she pointed to the one candy bar.

"Here you go little lady," he said and gave it to her.

She took the Wonka Bar outside and continued to walk to school. Her hands were shaking from being cold and being nervous. There was always that slight chance that this candy bar could be the one that holds one of the three remaining golden tickets. There was a possibility and there was also disappointment coming her way.

The only thing that she had right now was hope. Hope that she could make her mother smile again and the hope of finding that ticket. She froze in front of the school and looked down at the rectangular chocolate bar in her hands. She ripped off the top of the wrapping paper, she paused and took a deep breath. Then she couldn't take it any longer. Amber held her breath as she ripped the rest of the wrapping paper only to find the chocolate inside and nothing else.

The school bell rang and Amber quickly re-wrapped the chocolate and headed to class. During recess she started to eat her chocolate. There was no point in not eating was she bought with her own money. That would be such a waste of good candy and money. While she was eating some of the other girls walked up to her locker.

"Look here girls, Miss Amber bought a Wonka Bar. I didn't think you liked chocolate. You know that would be normal."

"Shut up, Andrea."

"I would think you would be more interested in impressing the boys with your stories and drawings. Unless that golden ticket would do the job," she mocked her.

"I don't try to impress the boys. It's not my fault they like me."

"Don't try?" she let out a harsh laugh. "Are you kidding me? Those green eyes and dark brown hair. No one in school had hair like that. I bet it's all fake."

"It's not," Amber slapped her. "My hair and eyes are as real as your jealousy."

Quickly she closed her locker and walked away. She was getting quite tired of Andrea and her little clones. Andrea had been picking on her ever since she found out that her crush like Amber. But she had grown used to people bugging her and she really didn't care anymore except when Andrea did it.

They were friends in first grade when Amber first started school. They were inseparable and if you saw one of them the other wouldn't be too far behind. Until the sixth grade when they entered Junior High. Andrea went with the 'popular' people as Amber was neglected. They become more distance and that's when Andrea started to pick on her.

It was soon time to go home though the incident at recess had carried to every classroom in the school. She was the first girl to actually stand up to Andrea and her click. All the guys were giving her high fives and other girls just gave her dirty looks. She just wanted to go home and flick on the television to see who found the next ticket.

When she was walking out of the school when one of the soccer players came walking up to her. Amber wasn't used to people coming near her so she flinched a little when he waved. He was tall, dark red hair, sky blue eyes and very good looking. She always had a slight crush on this boy since they were in art class together back in grade seven. She was always too shy to actually talk to him.

"Hey Amber!" he waved. "How's it going?"

"Hi James. Good, I guess," she said shyly.

"I heard about what you did to Andrea," he smirked. "You are probably on her hit list right now."

"Yeah, I thought about that after I did it."

"Don't think about it too much. From what I heard she deserved it. Hasn't she been bothering since Junior High or something like that?"

"It seems so," Amber dazed off for a second.

"You're a good person, Amber. Keep that in mind."

He smiled and waved as he turned away. Amber face started to burn and she knew that she was blushing like crazy. Luckily it happened as soon as James walked away to join some of his friends. He was a very good looking boy but Amber thought she never had a chance.

When Amber arrived at home her mother was sitting in the living room looking through a magazine. She looked at her mother with a confused look and opened her mouth to ask why she was there when her mother look up. She gave her a little smile and reached into her pocket. Amber waited patiently for what her mother wanted to show her. In her hands was a different type of Wonka Bar. Amber's eyes widened as she looked down at it.

"I thought I should give you a chance at finding it," her mother smiled.

"You went outside to the store?"

"Of course. I wanted you to have a chance."

"Maman, you aren't well enough to go outside. How could you do that? Your health is more important than that golden ticket," she glared down at her mother.

"Honey…"

"Don't you _honey_ me," she interrupted. "I just don't want to lose you like I did grandma and grandpa."

Quickly she turned away and ran up the stairs. Amber was fighting of tears but anger was also holding them back. She locked her bedroom door and slowly walked over to her bed. So many things were going through her head right now, finding that ticket, making her mother better and school. It was all too much for her to handle.

She laid flat on her bed and looked up at the blank ceiling. There was a feeling of regret in her stomach from yelling at her mother but she was just very worried for her. The light turned on in the hallway and she could hear her mother's voice speaking to her but she turned over onto her side. The light turned off, she looked at the door and there was the Wonka Bar.

Amber sat up, walked up to the bar and picked it up. She thought it over a little bit and she realized how much her mother loved her. She went outside in the cold just to go buy a chocolate bar so she could have a chance at finding the ticket. Amber smiled softly and walked towards her mother's room. She was already in her bed, reading a book and listening to classical music. Amber closed the door and stood holding the bar of chocolate. Her mother put down the book and smiled.

"I am sorry for before, Maman."

"It's alright, sweetie. I should have been more careful. I just wanted you to have the chance."

"Thanks. I bought one this morning. There wasn't one in it but it tasted good."

"Did you open the one I bought you?"

"I was hoping we could open it together."

Amber walked over to the bed and sat down next to her mother. She smiled and handed her the chocolate bar. There was a moment of silence before her mother started to slowly tare of the colorful wrapping. Amber kept her eyes on the bar looking for any signs of gold but she never found any. They both sighed and started to each the chocolate.

"I should be getting off to bed. I have a big day tomorrow."

"Good night, honey."

Her mother kissed her on the forehead and smiled. The disappointment was long gone. She was just happy that she spent some time with her mother. It wasn't very often that she sat down and talked with her other than supper. She laid down in bed and stayed there.


	13. Two Lucky Finders

Chapter 13 – Two Lucky Finders

The Christmas holidays were the same as usual for Amber. While all her classmates were going to the Americas for their vacation, she was stuck on the same island of England, as always, doing nothing. She had finished all her homework and read every book in the house. The holidays were always so boring for her. She didn't even have family to visit. It was only her mom and she.

There was no news on any of the golden tickets. It seemed like forever since the first two were found. She didn't want to have another chance because she knew that there wasn't going to be a ticket inside. It was just a waste of time and money. Her hopes were just slowly wasting away into the cold winter air.

The golden tickets slowly left her mind and she continued her normal life. The town's people also moved on and fewer chocolates were being bought and the talk about it lessened. Within days after she returned to school it was like it never happened. Now and then a few classmates would talk about it but it wasn't a big deal.

The first day of school was now different. Hardly any work was done or even started because all the students were talking about what they did on their holidays. Everyone seemed to have a good time but not for those who went to the beach in Florida. It rained for two weeks straight and there was a hurricane warning as well.

On the other hand it wasn't so good for Amber. When she was heading to English class, which is on the main floor of the school, Andrea was right behind her and _accidentally_ stepped on her heel and Amber fell down the stairs. Her whole class saw her wipe out and Andrea laughed the loudest out of everyone.

"Amber, you should really watch your step."

Andrea turned the corner into class and Amber grabbed her books. She was trying to kept back her angry but she wanted to leap onto Andrea and slowly rip every single hair out of her head. She wanted to just attack her and put her into her place. Amber sighed, put the event behind her and walked into class.

One afternoon in mid January, Amber came home to see her mother was still sleeping. Her illness had become worse since the day she went out to buy that silly chocolate bar. She felt worried for her mother and she tended to her every need. She walked into her room to see that the television was on and one of the golden tickets had been found. Her mother slowly woke up and it took her a few moments to understand what was happening. Amber walked over and sat next to her mother to see who the lucky child was.

The third golden ticket was found by a child athlete from the Unites States. She was standing in the living room of her house wearing a bright pink sweat suit and her mother was wearing a matching one. She looked like a very strong girl but her blond hair and green eyes made her look very girly. The little girl was chewing fiercely on a piece of gum and it didn't look like she was to stop chewing anytime soon.

"My daughter has the most trophies in the city. She is very competitive as you can see," her mother gestured towards the glass cabinets.

"I love to chew gum. It's my hobby but I had to put it down for a few weeks to get one of these golden tickets."

"My little girl can do anything when she puts her mind to it," her mother seemed very proud.

"I have beaten every record for gum chewing. So this special prize in no different. I am going to get it even if I have to karate my way through the other kids."

"Tell them why Violet."

"Because I'm a winner," she said in a matter-of-fact kind of voice.

Amber couldn't believe what she was seeing and hearing. This little girl was so head strong, so self absorbed and so little. She turned to her mother hoping to get a comment out of her but she was just starring out the window. The illness what taking its toll and Amber could see that. Her mother turned to face her and she smiled faintly. Amber wanted to cry but her tears would do nothing for her. She went to turn off the television when the anchorman reported that the fourth golden ticket was found and Amber sat back down.

The ticket was found by Mike Teavee who also lived in the United States. All the reporters were there and this little boy was sitting in front of a television playing a video game. The volume was so loud it was hard to actually hear was the reporters were trying to say. He seemed so concentrated that everything around him didn't seem to be there. He parents stood not too far away, smiling like crazy.

"All you had to do was subtract the opening dates off the square root of number of days and the derivative of the kneepan index. A retard could figure it out," he finally said.

"Most of the time I have no clue what he is saying," his father faced the reporters. "The new generation aren't kids for long with all this technology and computers."

His father and mother both looked at the little boy as he yelled death wishes to his video game. It seemed he was on the final level and he wanted to beat it. He was so into the game that no one could take it away from him. The boy grunted as he placed down the joystick and looked up.

"It was too easy. I just bought that one candy bar," he stopped playing his game.

"And how did it taste?" said one of the reporters.

"I don't know. I don't have time to eat candy."

"Well it's a good thing you are going to a chocolate factory you ungrateful little bastard," yelled Amber.

She turned off the television and turned around. Her mother was starring at her with worried eyes. Not once in her life had she swore in front of her mother and she felt a little bad about it. Amber turned and walked away. So many thoughts where going through her head and many of them lead to the last golden ticket. There was only one left and it could be anywhere. There was no chance that it would be in this little town. Amber sighed as she passed the huge chocolate factory.

Amber just wondered around the little town, going into places she had visited before and places she hadn't. She didn't want to go home and face her mother. The thought of seeing her pale face and dull eyes made her eyes burn with tears.

It was a little after dark when she arrived in front of her house. The light in her mother's room was off but the living light was very dull. She wondered who could have done that unless her mother had left it like that since last time she was there. She slowly opened the door and there was no sound in the house. She held her coat in her hands to hang it up when it suddenly fell to the ground. Her emerald eyes were locked onto the blood on the cream carpet of the living room. She slowly walked into the room to see her mother face down in a pool of blood.

"MAMAN!"

She ran to her side and carefully turned her over. There were no cuts along her body so where did all the blood come from? She started to wipe away some of the blood when her mother coughed up more. Amber rushed to the kitchen to call the ambulance. The doctors had come within a few minutes. They came running into the house with all their equipment and pushed Amber out of the way. She watched as they hooked her up to machines to keep her alive and they brought her into the ambulance. One of the doctors grabbed her arm and brought her with them even if she didn't want to. She yelled at him to let her go and leave her behind but he said he couldn't do that. He pushed her into the front seat and drove to the hospital.

Amber had waited many hours in the waiting room for one of the doctors to come out and say how her mother was doing. So many people had come in and out with babies, injuries and just visiting. Sometimes she would walk around and looked for something to eat or do. It seemed like forever but finally one of the doctors came.

"Miss Amber Vermont?" he looked down at her.

"Yes?" she stood up.

"Your mother will be fine but she had a serious case of stomach cancer and internal bleeding. That is why she was coughing up all the blood. We can stop the bleeding but the cancer is very advance," he explained.

"Can I see her?"

"Yes you may but for only a few minutes. We have to prepare her for surgery."

The doctor escorted her to the room where her mother was staying. She was all along in a small room with pale colors on the walls and it was so plain. Amber walked up to the bed and placed her hand on her mother's. It was so cold but yet it was fighting to keep the warmth from her hand. She stood beside the bed holding her mother's hand. Tears were running down her cheek and she didn't want them to go away. She knew this day would come, she knew her mother wasn't well enough to live forever and now that day finally came. Amber thought there was more time to talk and learn more from her mother. The doctor placed a hand on her shoulder and she looked up.

"It's time."

Amber slowly let go of her hand and kissed her softly on the forehead. She walked slowly out of the hospital and back home. It was far passed her bedtime but she didn't care one bit. She wasn't going to go to school or even out of the house. Her heart was heavy and she couldn't imagine watching all the happy students around her.

When the front door closed it didn't feel right anymore. There was no other presence in the house but her and for once she felt lonely. She walked past the living room without looking at it because she knew she would break down in tears. Everything was happening so fast and there wasn't anytime to take anything in.

Amber had visited her mother everyday after the surgery but she was only allowed to stay for a couple of minutes at a time. She would hold her hand and talk to her about things she had read or heard hoping it would help. Amber hadn't returned to school for a few days and teachers had called her house to see where she was. She didn't think her teachers actually cared about her.

It was almost the weekend and Amber was walking home in the rain. She didn't bother getting her umbrella since she had her coat wrapped around her. When she started to walk up to her street there was a boy standing on her front steps waiting for her. Amber walked closer and noticed it was James. He turned around when he heard footsteps and his smile slowly disappeared when he saw her state of affairs.

"Amber? Are you alright?" he walked over and put his umbrella over both of them.

"My mother was hospitalized," she broke down crying.

"It's alright. Here you should come inside," he wrapped his arm around her and brought her inside.

Amber sat down in one of the chairs in the kitchen as James looked for something warm to give her. She was dazed out half the time and he was trying to make conversation. When he placed a cup of hot chocolate on the table she snapped out of her daze. She felt bad for not helping him get around the kitchen.

"Amber? Will she be alright?" he asked sitting down.

"I don't know."

"Do you know how she was diagnosed with the illness?"

"I don't know."

"When will you come back to school?" he sounded a little sad.

"I don't know."

Amber just sat at the kitchen table starring into her hot chocolate has he asked the questions. He seemed very concern for her since he had never seen her so emotionless. He reached out and touched her softly on the hand. She slowly looked up and put down her cup. Was he actually touching her hand? She couldn't quite think straight with her mom's condition on her mind.

"Everyone is worried about you. We just want you back to normal."

"What's the point? I am only going to get picked on like before," she glared at him. "I have to go. You know where the door is."

"Emily! You can't just walk away like this," he called after her.

"I can if I want to. You are only helping me because you feel pity for me. Well you can feel pity for someone who cares."

She turned away and ran out of the house. She just kept on running until she was out of breath and she was standing in front of the factory. She thought about what James said. People were actually worried about her and they wanted her to come back. Amber thought she was the last person in their class that people would care about. She was always picked on but she guessed they would notice if she was gone.

"I will go to school tomorrow. I have to go get my homework," she said to herself as she looked up at the factory.

It looked so dark in the rain, so mysterious. Her eyes looked at the various windows when something caught her eye. It was a shade of purple in one of the windows. She blinded and it was suddenly gone. Amber shook her head thinking she was seeing things and started to walk home.


	14. The Miracle

Chapter 14 – The Miracle

The snow was coming down more than expected. It would come down feet at a time. No one was ready for such a snowstorm. The end of January wasn't always the best time of the year and the town's people were usually inside next to the fire. Sadly, Amber was sitting next to her mother in the hospital. It wasn't the best past time.

She had come out of her coma but her health status hadn't changed much. Amber had been there in the morning before school and at night after school every day. The doctors said that she needed all the family support that she could get. Since Amber was the only family she had left she was there all the time or at least all the time she could spare with school.

Hardly any of the students were looking for the ticket anymore and everyone seemed to be back to normal. No one had mentioned Amber's family state since they didn't want to upset her. Andrea hadn't even said one bad thing to her since she came back to school. She would just smile and walk away with her friends trailing behind.

She had tried many times to go talk to the other students but many of them were being unnaturally nice to her and it felt awkward most of the time. James wanted to see her but she kept on avoiding him in the hallways and taking different routes to her next class. She just couldn't face talking to him after what happened at her house.

The bell rang and Amber quickly left math class to get to her locker. She was packing her books and trying to get off the school grounds as soon as possible. Her mother would be waiting for her and it wasn't like to her keep her waiting. Amber turned away after closing her locker and something grabbed her arm. She turned around to see James standing right there.

"Why do you keep avoiding me?"

"Just leave me alone," she pulled away.

"You can't just keep on running away."

"I have heard that form you before. I just need some time along."

She slammed the door in his face and continued to walk not even looking back to see if he was still walking after her. Amber was walking to the hospital when she over heard some of the town's people talking. They said that a boy from Russia had found the last golden ticket. She stopped dead in her tracks and sighed. The whole thing was over and the last ticket was found. She stopped right in front of the local newspaper store and read the headlines of newspaper. Apparently the last ticket was a fake and that there was still one more ticket out there to be found. She walked into the store and walked up to the cash.

"One Wonka bar please," she asked the cashier.

"Here you go young lady," he handed it to her.

The lady next to her put down one of the newspapers and sighed. She didn't seem impressed that some people would do such a thing just to get the chance to go into the factory. The cashier just chuckled and continued to clean up the counter as the woman walked out of the store. Not many people were impressed with the family that tried to fool everyone into believing they had the last ticket.

Amber looked down at the chocolate bar and wondered. She wanted to go and share it with her mother but she wasn't sure if the doctors would allow her. Her eyes locked onto the bar and she slowly ripped off the colorful wrapping paper. A flash of golden caught her eye and she stopped. Her finger grabbed onto the paper and slowly slipped it out of the wrapping. She was shocked to see one of the golden tickets in her hand and everyone around her was starring at it. It just had to be a dream.

"It's golden ticket? You have the last golden ticket!" the cashier yelled.

"Listen I will give you anything for that ticket," said one of the men near by.

"No, I have waited long enough for this ticket and I am going to use it," she glared at the man.

"You're one lucky lady. I hope you have a wonderful time at the factory," the cashier smiled.

"Thank you."

Amber held the golden ticket close as she ran all the way down the street to the hospital and into the room where her mother was staying. Along the way she caused so much commotion over the golden ticket held tightly in her hand. She slowly walked up to the bed and placed her hand on her mother's. Her eyes slowly opened and she turned her head.

"What is it, sweetie?"

"Maman, I found the last golden ticket."

"Honey you don't have to say things like that to cheer me up," she smiled slightly.

"No really I did."

Amber slipped the golden ticket out of her pocket and placed it into her mother's hands. She looked down at the ticket with wide eyes and her hands started to shake a little. Her mother couldn't believe what she was seeing. It was really one of the golden tickets and her daughter was really going to see the factory. She could feel tears welding up in her eyes.

"I don't know what to say," her mother looked up.

"I just wanted some chocolate and then I got this."

"Oh there is writing on the back. What does it say?" she handed it to her.

"It's just a letter from Mr. Wonka. Oh my… I have to be at the factory at 10 am tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? So soon, what are we going to do?" her mother smiled.

"We should go home and get ready. I should wear my Victorian black dress and leave my hair down. What do you think? I shouldn't wear a dress."

She turned around and faced her mother. Her smile slowly disappeared and she sat down on the bed. Her mother was covering her mouth with her hand and she looked awfully pale. Amber was very concerned and called one of the doctors. When the doctor came in she started to cough up blood violently.

The doctor called an emergency code number and a nurse came rushing into the room with a bag of clear liquid under her arm. She hooked it to the metal rack and connected to a couple of tubes. Her mother had calm down and slowly rested her head on the pillow, which was on the bed.

The doctor picked up the golden ticket and looked at it. Amber sat back down on the bed and held her mother's hand. Amber and the doctor looked at each other. She knew what the doctor was thinking and he knew what she was thinking. There was still hope that her mother could be well enough to go to the factory with her.

"Amber I am sorry but your mother isn't well enough to go with you tomorrow."

"Then who is going to go with me? She's the only family I have left."

"Your mother could to write a letter to Mr. Wonka. I am sure he will understand."

"I just wanted her to be better for when we see the factory," she looked down.

"I am sorry but these things can't be helped. You can tell her everything when you get back."

He padded her on the head and left the room. Amber looked at her mother but she was fast asleep and she placed back down her hand. She had to go home and think of what to wear for the occasion. Amber walked into her room and started looking through all her drawers to find the perfect outfit. She laid four outfits on her bed and looked at every one of them to see which looked better. The first set had a black t-shirt with blue jeans, the second had a maroon turtleneck with black pants, the third had a thick grey wool sweater and jeans, and the last set was a black Victorian dress.

She starred at all four of them and started to think. They all matched her black coat but yet she couldn't be wearing the coat all through the tour. Amber tried on all the outfits and two of them didn't fit properly. Now it was between the wool sweater or the dress and the dress won. She threw all her other clothes into her closet and started to get ready for bed. Tomorrow was going to be a very big day for her and she needed all the rests she could get.


	15. The Big Day

Chapter 15 – The Big Day

The clock was flashing nine thirty and there was a lot of noise outside. A snowball hitting the window waked Amber up and some kid yelling, 'The famous kids are here.' She quickly jumped out of bed, dressed herself and did her hair. Before she left the house she grabbed her mother's gold necklace and jacket. It would be very embarrassing if she were late to go into the factory.

There were crowds of people around the front gates of the factory. Policeman had there arms linked together to keep the people from running up to the gates. There was already a line of the four kids and their parents. Amber started to weave her way through the people holding her ticket close.

She finally reached the policeman and showed him her ticket. He smiled and let her pass. The other four children turned around to look at her as she walked into the line. They were looking at her with looks of confusing because she didn't have a parent. Two of the children moved away and she stepped between them.

Amber turned her head to the girl to her right and took a quick glance at her. She was, if she remembered right, the spoiled brat. Her curly brown hair was tied back with a single clip. She wore a mink coat and pink dress. Her father looked like a businessman with his long black coat and hat. Amber turned her head the other way to see the other three children. Right next to her was the fat boy from Germany. Just like the last time she saw him he was eating away on a chocolate bar. His mother was wrapped in her thick coat and holding her purse.

Next to them was the little gum chewer and she still was chewing on the same piece of gum. She and her mother were both wearing the same outfits and they almost looked alike. And the last child at the end was the video game addict. He looked bored out of his mind as he looked up at the factory. His father was looking around and taking in all the new scenery.

"Daddy, when will the factory open? I want to go in," the little girl complained.

"It's almost time to go, sweet heart," her father looked at his watch.

"Make time go faster."

Amber took a little step away from her but she was a little afraid to get too close to the fat boy because he might bite her arm off. Suddenly the gates started to open and some of the children stopped what they were doing and starred at them. There was no one to be seen inside the gates until a voice was heard which told them to enter.

Immediately Augustus jumped forward and nearly knocked over Amber. The spoiled brat pushed her out of the way and pulled her father along. Amber was the last to get passed the gates and she joined the rest in the line. They stood together and didn't know what to do until the voice was heard again which told them to walk forward.

The five children and four adults walked forward and the great metal gates of the factory started to close behind them. Amber held the golden ticket and her letter close to her as she walked forward. The other children were also holding their tickets and the snow under their feet scrunched. The noise of the crowd was fading quickly.

They came to the front doors of the factory and no one could be seen. No one had come out to greet them or even tell them where Mr. Wonka was until the voice was heard again. It started to welcome them to the factory when the speaker stopped talking. The doors right in front of them opened up to reveal red curtains with gold trimming and a 'W' on the corner. They were pulled back to show colorful scene, wonderful music and puppets. They were signing a most catchy tune.

Amber looked up at the show being performed in front of her. The puppets were singing, moving and dancing all by themselves. She slowly took a few steps back and held her ticket tighter. The puppets were really scaring her. They stopped singing and fireworks were set off. Suddenly the stage was on fire, the puppets were melting and the singing had stopped. Amber turned her head at the noise of hands clapping together and saw a man standing next to one of the fathers.

"Bravo! Even better than rehearsal. Bravo!"

He walked up the stairs and stood in front of all the people. He was wearing a purple outfit with a silly hat. He really looked out of place. He was grinning and looking back and forth from parent to child. Some of the children looked up at him and wondered who he was until the gum chewer opened her big mouth.

"Who are you?"

"Are you Mr. Wonka?" Amber asked.

His smile became even bigger as everyone exchanged looks. It seemed that they weren't expecting him to look anything like he did. He was wearing a long black coat, a black top hat, purple gloves, his brown hair framed his face and he was wearing the most unusual purple shaded glasses. Amber looked up at him and she could tell he wanted to say something. His mouth was moving like he wanted to say something but he never stopped.

"Good morning, starshine... the earth says hello!"

Amber tilted her head slightly to the right. That phrase she had heard before from a song her mother used to sing to her. From the silence between the children and parents, the man's smile slowly faded, he reached into his coat pocket and look out q-cards. He looked at them for a second before looking up. Was he actually for real?

"Dear visitors. Welcome to the factory. My name is Willy Wonka."

"Then shouldn't you be in that chair?" the spoiled brat pointed to the burnt chair.

"Well, if I was sitting in that chair I would be set on fire then who would bring you around the factory?"

"Mr. Wonka," Amber looked up at him. "Aren't you going to fix the stage before it sets fire to the rest of the factory?"

"You shouldn't worry. It won't set fire. Let's get a move on kids."

He gestured towards the door with his cane and then turned around. Amber was pushed back again by the little brat and was the last in line. The group passed by the burnt stage and continued down the hall. The front doors closed behind them and they walked into the main hallway. Amber walked through the curtains into a long hallway and she felt the heat hit her cold face. The hallway had grey walls, which were a bit tilted in, there were stands with lights and a red carpet going until the other side. Willy took off his coat and glasses.

"Put your coats anyway."

"Mr. Wonka? Why is it so hot in here," said one of the parents.

"I have to keep it hot because my workers like that kind of heat."

"Who are the workers? Are they from the south?" asked Amber.

"You will see. Come on."

The children finished taking off their coats and followed him down the hallway. It was really quiet between them and only footsteps could be heard. Amber was walking beside the fat boy and she tried to keep arms length between him and her. The gum chewer was walking right next to Willy and eyeing him down until she suddenly hugged him. He flinched and looked horrified.

"Mr. Wonka, if you wanted to know I am Violet Beauregarde."

"Actually I didn't want to know," he continued to walk.

"Well, it's always good to know the name of the winner."

"I will keep that in mind."

She turned around and gave the happiest face to her mother. Willy continued to walk forward and once again was cut off by one of the children. It happened to be the spoiled brat who was smiling from ear to ear. He jumped back when he saw her in front of him. Was he going to be attacked by every child on the tour?

"I'm Veruca Salt. Thank you for having us in your factory," she curtsied.

"Hey you share the same name of a wart. How ironic is that because you are one," her smile quickly disappeared and the fat boy jumped in front of him.

"I'm Augustus Gloop. I love your chocolate," he bit down on the chocolate bar.

"That's great to hear," he took one step and turned around, eyeing down the video game addict. "You're Mike Teavee. Why are you here if you hate chocolate?" he turned and faced Amber. "And you…you…"

They made eye contact and it seemed he lost his train of thought. He looked down at her for a while when a confused look crossed his face. It was like if he was mentally fighting his thoughts or ideas. When she blinked he snapped out of it and looked up smiling. Everyone exchanged looks. They wanted to know what all that was about.

"Then that leaves you guys to be their guardians," he hesitated to smile.

"Parents most likely," said one of them.

The smile on his face slowly disappeared and he looked down. His face darkened a little and he slowly dazed out. Amber looked at the others to see their reactions and they were confused. One of them sneezed and suddenly his eyes shot up and he smiled awkwardly.

"Okay then. Let's move a long,"

He quickly turned around and started to walk down the hall. Amber was stuck next to Augustus who eating down that bar of chocolate like there was no tomorrow. The two girls in front of her were linking arms and becoming friends while all the parents trailed behind. Willy stopped in front of a tiny door and turned around.

"This is the most important room. It's like the hearts in your bodies but for the factory."

"Then why's the door so small?" asked Mike.

"Goodness comes in all sizes, doesn't it little boy?"

Willy reached into his pocket and took out a bunch of keys. He bent over, slid of one the keys into the keyhole and turned it. There was an unlocking noise and he pushed the doors open. The five children and four adults froze as they looked into the heart of the factory.


	16. The Chocolate Room

Chapter 16 – The Chocolate Room

Amber couldn't believe what she was seeing. The room she had just walked into was the most colorful she had even been in. There was lush green grass everywhere, willows hung over a brown river, at the other end of the room there was a huge waterfall and there were so many different flowers and plants. All the children were shocked as they followed Willy along the path. It was only something you would find in a factory as great at his.

"This is a very special room so be very careful," said Willy.

"It's gorgeous," Amber breathed.

"That's what I said when I first say it."

He continued to walk along the bath and everyone followed. Augustus seemed to be blown away. His sky blue eyes scanned the room and it seemed like he wanted to eat it all up. The other children weren't as amazed as Amber was. Her eyes wouldn't stop moving and her breath was taken out of her. The room was more beautiful than anything in the world.

"The river is made of pure chocolate of my secret recipe," Willy explained.

The group was walking over a little bridge that passed over the chocolate river. It was amazing to see all the chocolate flowing down the waterfall and down across the room. Amber could smell the rich smell of chocolate and it sent shivers down her spine and Goosebumps all over her body. Willy turned around and pointed to the waterfall.

"The waterfall is _most_ important. It's the best way to mix chocolate if you want it to be rich and light. By the way, no other factory in the _world_ mixes their chocolate by waterfall because they haven't figured that it's the best way. It's a shame really," he seemed very proud of himself.

This time instead of continuing to walk he gestured for them to continue down the path. He was looking at every child as they passed with great interest but they didn't even look at him. They seemed to be a little afraid of him. Amber looked at him at the corner of her eye and he was smiling. The group continued to walk until Willy caught their attention.

"Hey!" he turned and gestured to a pipe coming towards them. "See those pipes. They are made to such of the chocolate and bring it to where ever it is needed. Yeah."

No one seemed too interested in some pipes that sucked up chocolate. They wanted to see more than this now boring room. Willy turned around smiling. He seemed more excited than any one of the children. Even if he lived in the factory and saw this room every day, it always kept him entertained. He turned around and pointed to the grass with his cane.

"Doesn't this grass look so good," he bent down, picked up and blade of grass and ate it. "Mmmm…. minty fresh."

"You can eat the grass?" Amber asked.

"Of course you can. I just ate one and I seem to be alright," he looked down at himself to make sure he was. "By the way everything is this room you can eat it. You could even eat me but I wouldn't taste very good unless I was made of candy, which I am not. But, my dear children, you can eat whatever you want in this room. So enjoy!"

As soon as Willy finished his sentence Augustus dove into the grass and started eating handfuls of it. The group of five children and four adults scattered into many directions and started exploring the rest of the room. Mr. Salt watched his daughter push passed Amber and run off. He turned around to find Willy staring at him but he just ignored him and went to find his daughter.

Mike Teavee was running everywhere smashing everything he could see and pretending he was in a video game and the candy was the invading aliens. He father didn't seem very pleased and he followed him everywhere making sure he didn't break anything else thought it was hard to keep him under control.

Amber wondered off not to far when she walked into a flowerbed. They seemed to be all sorts of flowers from tulips to roses and buttercups. She bent over to pick up a yellow buttercup to find that there was candy syrup in it. Smiling, she tilted the flower to take a sip and it tasted like lemons.

When she finished the drink, she continued to walk down the path when she found a tree with candy apples on them. She walked over and reached out for one when it was taken away. She turned to see Violet taking her chewing gum out of her mouth and storing it behind her ear. She was shocked to see the little girl do this and stepped back a little.

"That is nasty. You put it behind your ear?" she asked.

"I put it there for safe keeping. Where else am I going to put it? In my hand or hair?" she snapped back before turning away.

"You can swallow it and I hope you choke on it," she mumbled under her breath before continuing walking down the path.

Mrs. Gloop was quickly ripping of chocolates and stuffing them into her handbag before anyone could see her do it. Augustus on the other hand didn't care what people thought and was just stuffing his face with everything he set is eyes on. He took handfuls of grass and stuff it into his mouth and licked off all the icing off one of the trees.

Mrs. Beauregarde didn't know what to try first. It had been ages since she last had any sort of sweets and she didn't want to make a fool of herself. She took off one of the flowers of a red mushroom tree and stuffed it down. Mr. Salt had passed by still looking for his daughter when he saw Mrs. Beauregarde smiled at him with her red stained teeth.

Veruca had been searching the room for something she hadn't had before and she wasn't having any luck. Until she came to a tree with lollipops, that were red and pink, sticking out of it. She took one and started licking it as she looked around the room. Her eyes dropped upon a little figure across the chocolate river. She guessed it was no higher then her knee.

"Daddy, look!" she cried and pointed. "Are they little dolls? I want one."

Her screeches echoed through the room and everyone gathered near the riverbank to look at what the little girl was pointing at. There were little men in red body suits picking up gumballs, chopping down candy cans and taking other candies. Everyone was surprised but Willy and he was just smiling to himself.

"I counted two," said Mrs. Beauregarde.

"There are four or five. Maybe even more," Mr. Teavee corrected her.

"Do they live in the factory too?"

"Are they the workers, Mr. Wonka?" Amber asked.

"They look like little aliens that you fight in the first level of Alien Attack," Mike seemed to be somewhat interested.

"They are not aliens. They are Oompa Loompas," Willy said in a-matter-of-fact kind of way.

"Oompa Loompas?"

"Imported direct from Loompaland," Willy told them.

"Did you just made that up on the stop because there is no such place," said Mr. Teavee.

"What?" Willy turned his head.

"Mr. Wonka, I am a geography teacher and I have-"

"Well then if you haven't heard about Loompaland then you are a very bad geography teacher. Everyone knows about Loompaland and it's very dangerous."

Willy took a deep breath before continuing his sentence. He was telling the story of how he found the Oompa Loompas when the factory was closed. He had been traveling the world for new candy flavors for two years before he found them in the deep jungle some where in the Amazon.

He explained everything about their culture and habitat. They lived in huge tree houses, which could hold up to three families. Everyday the males of the tribes would go out hunting while the females stayed home and kept the children under order. At night they would actually set up a fire on the ground since the creatures they feared hated fire and they didn't worry about being attacked.

By the time he finished his long speech about his beloved Oompa Loompas, half the group was falling asleep and some had dazed out. None of them cared about these little brown men who worked in the factory. They just wanted to see the rest of it and taste more candy. Amazing candies were the only things on the children's minds.

"Augustus! Augustus! Don't do that. Get away from there!," yelled Mrs. Gloop.

The fat mother yelling caught everyone's attention. On the other side of the river, Augustus was sticking his hand in the chocolate and bringing it up to his mouth to eat. He didn't seem to react to his mother calling him to stop since he kept on eating. The fat boy leaned in too far and suddenly he fell right into the river. His mother screeched as Willy sighed. There was a boy in his perfect chocolate.

"He'll drown," she yelled. "He can't swim with those fat arms of his!"

Willy didn't move from his spot and he didn't seem to care that Augustus was bobbing up and down in his precious chocolate since he knew that his chocolate was contaminated from the boy. He just turned his head the other way and smiled. All the children couldn't keep their eyes of the boy in the chocolate river. They really thought he could float with his tummy but it wasn't doing a good job.

"Look! The pipes!" the gum chewer pointed to it.

Augustus was slowing being sucked up with the chocolate. He went under and his mother freaked. A couple of moments later he could be seen going up the pipe. He was slowing down and then suddenly stopped. There was so much pressure under him that it would soon give way. The pipe would soon break and the boy would go flying.

"Get him down from there," yelled Mrs. Gloop.

"I wonder how he can fit in there," said Mrs. Beauregarde.

"He can't. He's stuck in there," Amber said.

She turned her head to hear music playing. It was very faint in the distance but it was gradually getting louder. The other children had noticed this too and wanted to know why there was music at a time like this. She turned again and saw the Oompa Loompas were dancing.

"Look the Oompa Loompas," she said.

"What are they doing?" said Veruca.

"Oh I believe they are going to sing. They love to that you know. I am surprised they would do it in front of strangers," Willy smiled.

The Oompa Loompas dropped what they were doing and ran off. More came out of nowhere and joined the one that were there in a long line going around the room. They started to sing and dance to the music. Willy even started to dance a little as they sang. It was quite unexpected.

Suddenly Augustus shot up through the pipe into the main storage because the pressure under him what so great. His mother through up her arms and started to scream. The music started to die down as the Oompa Loompas started to dance away and the pipe went away into the next room and beyond.

"Bravo!" Willy clapped. "I love it when they sing. Weren't they marvelous?"

"You know, it seems like they planned that. The timing was too perfect," said Mr. Salt.

"Oh balderdash," said Willy.

The children watched as he walked away and continued up the path. They were still taking in that fact that Augustus was gone to who knows where. Mrs. Gloop protested and ran after him with her arms in the air. She ran up to him with a very mad expression on her face and he turned to face her, smiling.

"Where is my son? Where is he going?" she asked.

"He could be going to many rooms actually. That pipe could go to the fudge room, the coating room or the mixing room. Most likely the mixing room," He seemed to be very proud.

"Then he will be mixed into chocolate or maybe different types of chocolates."

"No it won't happen."

"Why not? Then he is not going to that room?"

"No, he would block the mixing pipes or he might be too big for some of the machines."

Mrs. Gloop look horrified at the fact that Willy has just called her son fat. Before she could say anything Willy turned around and did some sort of call. It was quite different. An Oompa Loompa immediately appeared in front of him. Willy smiled and bent down to his height. It was weird to see the two together though some who they were meant to be together.

"I want you to take Mrs. Gloop to the Mixing Room to look for her son. Can you get him before he does anymore damage, k?"

The Oompa Loompa crossed his arms in agreement and walked over to Mrs. Gloop. He reached up and tugged on her dress. She looked up at Willy and he nodded for her to follow the little man. They walked away up the path. The children looked up at Willy to see what to do next. He was just about to continue walking when Amber tapped him on his shoulder.

"Mr. Wonka?" said Amber.

"Huh?" he looked down at her.

"How did the Oompa Loompas know about Augustus, unless-"

"Improvisation in a parlor trait," he interrupted. "Almost anyone can do it. The Oompa Loompas are very good at it as you just saw."

"But will Augustus be alright?"

"Of course he will. Let's just hope they get there in time."

"What if they don't?" asked Mike."

"You should pronounce your worlds better because I didn't hear one word you just said. Now, on with the tour."


	17. The Inventing Room

Chapter 17 – The Inventing Room

The group stood by the riverbank and Willy turned his head. The children followed his actions and saw a pink Viking looking boat turning around the corner. Inside it held at least eighty Oompa Loompas, they were rowing with spoon shaped ores. There was one Oompa Loompa at the front of the boat beating on a drum to tell the others how fast their rowing should be. They stopped in front of the boat and started to laugh. It was clear they were laughing at the group of children.

"Why are you laughing?" Violet glared at them.

"I told you they like making jokes," Willy said. "I forgot to tell you guys but chocolate is also another way to make you fell happy. That's why women always eat it when they're sad."

"I wish I was sad right now. Your chocolate would make me happy again." said Mrs. Beauregarde is a flirty kind of way.

"I don't. Now everyone into the boat," Mr. Wonka said nervously.

"But Mr. Wonka how do you know that?" Amber looked up at him.

"From experience, my dear girl."

The children and their parents boarded the pink boat. Willy gave her a slight push when she was about to step into the boat. There were only three seats to sit in and the first two were full. Amber climbed over one of the children to make it to the back seat. Willy followed her and sat right next to her. He gestured for the Oompa Loompas to start rowing and they did.

Once again the beating of the steady drum was heard and the Oompa Loompas were rowing. At the corner of Amber's eye she could see Willy eyeing down each of the children and smirking. From his actions and personality so far, Willy didn't seem to be attached to reality but in his own world. She turned away when he moved to reach for something.

"Here," he handed her a cup full of chocolate. "You should have some. I have a feeling you are not well emotionally."

"Are you trying to make me feel like I'm in love right now?" she glared at the cup.

"My dear girl, of course not. You need the happy feeling that's all," he smiled at her.

"Thanks," she took the mug and sipped it quickly. "It's great."

"You know why it's so great? Because I mixed my chocolate by waterfall. It's the best and only the best way to-"

"You already said that," Veruca interrupted.

"You should shut your mouth when someone else is talking, little girl," he snapped back.

"Stop calling me 'little girl'," she glared at him.

"Well you are a girl and you are little. So I think that suits you," he said smugly.

"I bet you hated it when people called you little boy," she mumbled under her breath.

Willy eyed her down as Veruca turned around and continued to look forward. He knew he had won the argument and the other children turned back and faced forward. He seemed pretty proud of himself and Amber faced him. He seemed to be acting like a child himself and it was hard to believe he owned this factory.

"Mr. Wonka? Do you remember your childhood at all?" she asked,

"Oh I loved my childhood," he said happily. "Did I?"

Willy titled his head slightly to the left and it seemed he had zoned out. Amber waved a hand in front of him but it didn't work and it seemed she was the only one who noticed. The other children were too busy talking to their parents or looking at the scenery. The area started to get darker and she noticed they were going into a tunnel. Her head shot back to look at the chocolatier.

"Mr. Wonka?" she said tapping his shoulder. "Mr. Wonka, are you alright? We're heading into a tunnel."

"Oh yeah… I am fine. Keeping moving."

"If they are facing us then how can they see behind them?" said Violet.

"Life is full of surprises, isn't it?"

The boat was going forward when suddenly the front went downwards and they started going down hill. A gust of wind hit Amber face and she closed her eyes just enough for her to see. It was like being on a roller coaster but in a chocolate factory. The tunnel became narrower until the boat started to slow down and they entered a bigger room. The Oompa Loompas were now rowing on a slower beat.

"Hey!" said Willy. "Keep your eyes open. We are passing some of the store rooms."

The children turned their heads to the huge circular doors, which had names on them, telling them what was in there. They were mostly creams but there were clotted cream, coffee cream and hair cream. Some of the parents looked back again at the door to make sure they read it right the first time. They just couldn't believe Willy had a whole room based on hair cream.

The boat continued down the chocolate river and passed another door, which was open. Inside were four Oompa Loompas whipping a cow and you could hear it mooing as loud as it could. It was an odd site to see but Amber understood and she couldn't help but giggle a little.

"Mr. Wonka? Is that supposed to be whipped cream?" she smiled and turned to Willy.

"Of course. I am surprised you could get it," he seemed very happy that someone got it.

"That's very stupid. Why can't you make it the normal why?" Veruca said.

"For your information little girl," his smile disappeared very quickly. "Whipped cream is only whipped cream if it's been whipped before coming out of the cow. If you don't do that then it's only cream fluffed up with a blender."

They glared at each other as Veruca turned back around to face the front. Willy smiled to himself again since he had won yet another battle against one of the children. Amber shifted in her seat as the big pink Viking boat turned a corner and continued down the chocolate river. They passed more rooms but it was hard to read the names because they were going so fast.

Willy seemed to be having more fun then any of the children. Amber guessed he like the idea of riding in a pink boat and speeding down a chocolate river. But she had to admit that it was a once it a lifetime thing so she enjoyed it too. The boat was going down a steep spiral tunnel and suddenly stopped when they got to another room.

"Stop the boat," Mr. Wonka said excitedly. "I want to show you guys something."

The boat stopped in front of one of the rooms and on the big door it said 'Inventing Room'. Willy stepped out first to open the door and the group followed. The room was filled with bottles, weird looking machines, steam and loud noises. Willy seemed very at home when he walked into there but the children were amazed. They had never seen such machines before and they wanted to know how they worked.

"Now in this room is where I invent all my amazing candy ideas," explained Willy. "You can look around but don't touch anything, okay?"

Immediately, three of the children ran off with their parents running after them. Violet and Mike ran up to a huge tank with water in it. Weird pumps were shooting out little round balls of many colors and inside an Oompa Loompa was swimming around and picking it up. It was yet another weird way of making candy. Amber turned into another direction and looked at the other machines that were in the room. Some of the machines were spitting out colorful balls and others were just steaming. There always seemed to be something happening and it always caught her attention.

She walked back to the group were Willy was showing off some of his new invented candies. It seemed he was having another argument with one of the children and he was winning like usual. She entered the group as Willy walked away to show them another one of his amazing candies. Amber glared down at one of the children and he looked up at her blankly. She could tell immediately that it was Mike. He had that bored look on his face and it was hard not to recognize it. She crossed her arms and looked away.

Willy turned away and started to walk towards a huge machine. The children and their parents followed him with curiosity. They wanted to know what amazing candy or chocolate they were going to show them next. There was an Oompa Loompas with a barrel full of food and he placed it down a chute. Willy smiled and pushed down on one of the levers.

"Watch this." He said will a huge smile on his face.

Lights on the machine started to flash, steam came out some of the pipes, pressure gages went crazy and a mechanical arm started to move forward. Willy moved over onto the other side and waited. At the end of the arm was a little sliver of pale pink substance. Violet went forward and grabbed it. She knew what it was right away but the other children didn't quite know.

"That's it?" said Mike, who was not impressed. "All of that made that little piece."

"Size doesn't matter in this factory. It's all about the candy itself. You know the flavor, the color and what it does."

"What it does?" Mike looked at him.

"I will show you another time," he turned away and face Violet.

"Can this be gum?" asked Violet.

"Well of course it is. What else would it be? This is the new newest type of gum I have been testing. It's supposed to be a three course meal in one but it has a few defects."

"Why would anyone want a three course meal gum?" asked Mr. Salt.

"Well for one, you wouldn't have cook or clean dishes. You just have to eat one of these and viola you are set for the day."

"Where did you come up with the idea, Mr. Wonka?" Amber asked.

"I was eating supper when the idea popped into my head," he gestured his hand to his head.

"It sounds great," said Amber.

"It sounds weird," spat Veruca.

"It sounds like my kind of gum," Violet took out her piece of gum and placed it behind her ear.

"If you were listening I said that it isn't-"

"I got bored of your little tale an hour ago. I have gum so I am going to chew it as long as I want."

Before Willy could protest one more time, she immediately popped it into her mouth and her jaws started right away on chewing the piece of gum. Willy had a somewhat worried look on his face but it slowly went away as a smiled appeared. Her mother on the other hand was the happiest person there.

"So do you like?" her mother asked.

"I haven't tasted gum like this is ages," she looked up at her mother. "It's like Grandma's Thanksgiving dinner. It's so good."

"Yeah, can you stop chewing it," Willy said with a big smile.

"Hey I think you should listen you bi-"Amber started before Violet cut her off.

"Wait, it's changing," she continued to chew. "Now it tastes like a chicken dinner. It feels like I am actually eating it."

"Keep chewing honey. My little girl is going to go down into history for being the first kid to have a chewing gum meal."

"Yeah. I am just a little concerned about the-" Willy said before Violet interrupted him.

"Blueberry pie and ice scream!" she shouted.

"That part," he finished.

"What's happening to her nose?" said Veruca.

Everyone's eyes were on Violet right now and they could see a little blue dot on the tip of her nose. Her mother looked worried as the dot slowly spread over her whole nose. Violet didn't know what was going on and kept on chewing away thinking everyone was crazy for seeing something that wasn't there.

"It's turning blue," said Mr. Salt.

"Your whole nose has gone purple," her mother couldn't believe it.

"Mother you must be seeing things," she touched her nose.

"Violet, your whole body is turning violet!" her mother was starting to panic and turned to Willy. "What's happening?"

"Well I told you I hadn't gotten it right yet but no ones listens to me. I am terribly sorry for your daughter."

"Mother what's happening to me?"

"What's going to happen to her?" asked Amber.

Within a blink of an eye Willy was gone. Amber looked around for Willy but he could not be seen. Everyone turned back to Violet whose face was now all blue and she was watching her hand turn the same color. The group of children quickly stepped away from her. Her whole body from head to toe was now all blue and she started to hold her stomach. Violet started to blow up like a balloon.

"She's turning into a blueberry," Amber pointed.

The swelling didn't stop. Now the only thing that was left of little Violet was two hands, two feet, a head and her huge round body. She nearly took up the whole room and her mother look horrified to see her daughter like this. Some of the group members looked around for the chocolatier but he couldn't be seen.

"I have tested it like twenty times and every single time it turned out like this. But I don't know why," Willy popped up next her Mrs. Beauregarde.

"Well do something about it. My daughter can't look like this. How is she going to win?"

"You can put her in a county fair," giggled Veruca.

It all went quiet for a moment then music started to play. Five Oompa Loompas came out of the smoke in funny silver suits. They were dancing towards Violet and Willy seemed to dance with them. The Oompa Loompas got into a line behind the girl, started to push her and sing.

All the Oompa Loompas danced away and rolled Violet out of the room. Willy was still dancing to the fading music and he seemed to be having a grand old time. Mrs. Beauregarde walked up to him and he smiled back at her as he dance. He stopped after seeing the mad expression on her face. It wasn't the greatest time to dance and smile.

"You have to bring her to the Juicing Room, okay?" Willy said to the nearby Oompa Loompas.

"To the Juicing Room? Why are you bringing her there?" Mrs. Beauregarde looked worried.

"Why else would I go to the juicing room for? We have to take all that juice out of her right away. You don't want her to look like that forever, do you?"

With those final words, she ran off to help the little men roll her daughter out of the room. Violet was pleading for held but she was being muffled by her juice filled body. The group looked at each other because they weren't sure if Violet really turned into a blueberry. Willy faced the rest of them and smiled.

"Come on. Let's boogie!"


	18. The Nut Sorting Room

Chapter 18 – The Nut Sorting Room

The three children and two adults followed Willy out of the Inventing Room and down the hallway. It seemed to be slightly slopping downwards and it kept on going in circles. Some of the children wanted to talk to Willy since they hadn't had the chance yet. There were so many things they wanted to ask him but they never had to eh chance to. They kept on walking while Willy talked to them.

"We are going to have to walk faster since some blue girl took the boat," he smiled.

As soon as that sentence was over questions were being thrown at Willy and he seemed to be handling them very well. He didn't like that fact that each child interrupted the other before he could answer their question. He sighed to himself after the last question was finished. The hard part was over and he could continue with the tour.

"Will Violet always be a blueberry?" Veruca budded in.

"Maybe you should ask her next time you see her. See children, if you chew that much gum you will turn out like that. It's just disgusting."

"If you hate gum so much then why do you make it?" Mike seemed annoyed.

"Once again, you really shouldn't mumble because it starting to bum me out," Willy smiled.

"Mr. Wonka? Do you remember your first candy you ate? What was it?" Amber asked.

"I don't know."

Willy stopped dead in his tracks and looked off into the distance. The children exchanged looks and wondered why he suddenly stopped. They thought it was something they said but none of the questions were insulting. The two other children glared at Amber because she was the last one to ask a question. Willy blinked and snapped out of his trance.

"Sorry I was just having a flashback," he said in monotone.

"I see," Mr. Salt pulled back his daughter.

"These flashbacks happen often?" asked Mr. Teavee.

"Increasingly…today."

He giggled to himself and continued to walk down the corridor. The reddish color of the walls started to change to a sort of greenish white color. They didn't have much conversation since the flashback Willy said he was having. Some of the children kept their distance from him. He stopped in front of a huge door with the name 'Nut Sorting Room' on it.

"Ah, I know a lot about this," said Mr. Salt pulling out a business card and Willy just threw it away. "I am in the nut business. Are you using the Harrimax 4000 to do your sorting?"

"No, hahaha," he laughed in his face. "Why use weird machines when you could just do it the simple way?"

He crossed over and opened the door. The group followed him as they walked up to the railing. The blue colored room was filled with a huge glass bowl of walnuts, tubes, chutes and one hundred squirrels sitting cracking open nuts. Every one of them were cracking open walnuts and some were shooting them over their shoulders.

"Squirrels!" Veruca cried.

"This is the simple way. Just train squirrels to open the nuts," Willy explained.

"Why squirrels? Why not Oompa Loompas?" Mr. Salt asked.

"'Cause the Oompa Loompas would only break the shell and rune the nut. I only use whole walnuts in this factory. See how they test each one with their little knuckles to make sure it's not bad. Oh look, look! I think that ones got a bad nut."

Far off on the other side of the room a squirrel took a walnut then placed it up to its ear. A few moments passed and suddenly he tossed it over his shoulder. The walnut rolled down into the middle of the room where it disappeared into a hole. Veruca seemed really fascinated by this and turned to her father.

"Daddy, I want a squirrel," Veruca called up to him. "

"Veruca, you have many marvelous pets," said Mr. Salt.

Veruca glared up at her father and stamped her foot. She opened her mouth and took a deep breath and named all the pets she had at home. The people around her just looked at her as the list became longer and longer. How was it possible to have that many pets and want more at the same time? She stopped yelling and looked at her father.

"Alright I will get you a squirrel. Veruca just please calm down."

"But I don't any old squirrel. I want a _trained_ squirrel."

"Very well," he sighed and looked up. "Mr. Wonka? How much do you want for a squirrels?"

"Dear no! I would never sell one of my squirrels to a girl like that. She can't have one," he smiled knowing that Veruca would be mad.

"Daddy?" she screamed at him.

"Just face it Veruca you can't have one," Amber glared at her.

"Fine if you aren't going to help then I will get one myself."

Veruca crouched down and slide through the bar on the railing. She walked down the stairs to the main floor. Her father tried to call her back, even Willy did too but there was no stopping her. She looked around the room at all the squirrels and they stopped what they were doing and looked back at her. She didn't mind all the squirrels looking at her. She liked the attention.

She walked up to one of the squirrels on the other side of the room. She smiled and reached out to grab it. Suddenly one hundred squirrels jumped down from their seats and ran towards the girl. She back away from the one she was going to grab and looked as the rest. They were ganging up on her. It wasn't fair.

Mr. Salt grabbed the door and tried to open it. He desperately looked at Willy as he took out his huge ring of keys. The squirrels were jumping all over Veruca and he tried to push them away but they kept oncoming. She fell over and now the squirrels were pinning her down to the ground. Mr. Salt started to shack the door but Willy was still looking for the right key.

"Daddy, I want them to stop!" she cried.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked down at Veruca. One squirrel had jumped on her and was making its way up to her face. Veruca looked at it with huge eyes since she was very frightened. The little creature placed it paws on her forehead and knocked on it.

"What are they doing?" Amber was worried.

"They're testing to see if she's a bad nut," Willy looked down and the squirrel squeaked. "I guess I was right all along. She is a bad nut."

Once again the squirrels were on the move and they started to bring the little girl towards the hole in the middle of the room. Veruca cried for them to stop but nothing happened. Mr. Salt was looking back and forth from his daughter and Willy. None of the other children tried to go save Veruca since they were in shock from what the squirrels were doing to her. They never thought squirrels could actually attack humans.

"Where are they taking her?" he demanded.

"To the garbage chute of course," he giggled.

"Where does the chute go?"

"To the incinerator," everyone looked up at him. "But don't worry. We only light it every second day."

"What's the chance that today is the day that it's being lit?" Amber looked up at him.

"Well it was lit three days ago so that means today must be the day or tomorrow. Depends how you look at it," he was trying to lighten the mood.

The squirrels reached the hole and tossed her in. Her voice carried and it slowly faded away. Mr. Salt screamed and looked at Willy. All one hundred squirrels returned to their seats and continued to crack open walnuts as if nothing happened.

"Don't worry. She might be stuck in the chute. So you just have to walk over and pull her out, okay?"

Willy opened the door to let Mr. Salt walk by. He walked down the steps to the second landing. Willy closed the door behind him as music could be heard in the air. Mr. Salt turned around to see Oompa Loompas dancing into the room and they were singing.

Mr. Salt walked down to the main floor and walked through all the dancing Oompa Loompas. He peered into the hole to see if his daughter was there. He leaned in further and one of the squirrels jumped off of its chair. It ran over to Mr. Salt and pushed him in. Willy giggled and turned around. An Oompa Loompa was at his feet tugging on his coat. He crouched down beside him as the Oompa Loompa whispered something into his ear.

"Well it must be their lucky day," he looked at the rest of the group. "Today isn't the day that the incinerator is being lit. So there should be three days of rotten garbage to break their fall."

"Well, they must be jumping with joy," said Mr. Teavee dully.

"Well they should be. It's not everyday you get to sit in garbage," he looked at the children. "Well let's keep on trucking."


	19. Television Chocolate

Chapter 19 – Television Chocolate

They continued down the hallway until Willy stopped in front of a glass door. Right next to the door was a glass holder with two buttons on it. Willy pushed the bottom once and the doors opened. The group followed him inside and all the buttons there were on the side of the glass amazed them.

"I am so silly sometimes. We should have used the elevator from the start," he said.

"Why are there so many buttons? There aren't this many rooms," Mike looked at all the buttons.

"How do you know mister? Do you live in the factory? Do you use this elevator everyday?"

"No."

"Well there. Proves how much you know. Now, without any further delay we will continue the tour."

As soon as he hit that one button the elevator sped off to their right and they flew to the left. The area around them was very dark and only small lights could be seen. The elevator would stop and then take off again in a different direction. Now they were heading towards a huge circular shaped building. They went through a whole in the side and everything became much brighter.

"Oh look," cried Willy. "This is Fudge Mountain. On the bottom of the mountain is where all the Oompa Loompas live."

"Why don't they live in bedrooms or a different section of the factory?" Amber asked.

"They insisted they live in this room. It reminded them of their home and they live near a fudge river. Where would you live? In a bedroom or next to a fudge river?"

"Good question."

Amber turned around and looked down at the huge chunk of fudge. There were twenty Oompa Loompas all attached to each other by red rope and they were hacking away at the fudge. The children looked right under them and they could see the villages and some of the Oompa Loompas were outside looking up at them. Willy waved happily to them and they started to wave back then continued.

They left that area and went into a new one. There were four huge cylinder's full of pink cotton. In the middle of the room there were two Oompa Loompas shaving off all the wool from the sheep that went by. Mr. Teavee gave Willy a funny look because they had no clue why this room even existed but Willy seemed very happy.

"Oh," he paused and his smile disappeared. "I rather not talk about this one."

"Why not?" Mike looked up at him.

"Because nothing good will come out of it," Willy had a smug look on his face.

Within moments of only being in that room they continued into another were the walls were all yellow and down below they could see many beds that were fill with burnt puppets. The Oompa Loompas were dressed in doctor outfits were going from bed to bed checking them and fixing them. Amber felt her stomach twist a little when she looked down at the puppets. They were being treated from the little accident before the tour began.

"This is the puppet hospital and burn center. It's relatively new," he giggled.

"You're helping puppets? Why can't you just throw them out?" Mike snapped at him.

"Puppets have feelings too. Plus they deserve to have a nice recovery."

"But Mr. Wonka, why help them? They are just toys after all," Amber looked up at him.

"Well you have your toy dolls, right? Why can't I have puppets that sing?"

Before Amber could answer the elevator went out into the darkness once again and started heading downwards while spinning. They heard Willy saying something about Administration Offices and there were a least fifty Oompa Loompas stationed at desks, typing away. They stopped at the bottom and Willy waved to one of them and she waved back.

Once again the elevator stopped and started to head downwards. There were danger signs everywhere and the group knew why. On the sides there were Oompa Loompas shooting different sorts of candy that exploded into fireworks. It was a very beautiful display. Bright colors were everywhere and some of them nearly hit the elevator. Amber looked in every direction to catch all the candy exploding. Sadly Mike didn't seem as amazed as she was.

"The whole factory is completely useless," said Mike, who wasn't impressed at all.

"It's your fault you don't like chocolate. I don't even know why you came to this tour," Amber snapped back.

"It's stupid. Candy is a waste of time. I could be at home playing video games."

Amber looked up at Willy and he seemed horrified. She waved a hand in front of him but he never looked at it. She knew right away that he was having one of his flashbacks and she punched Mike in the arm. He glared at her and turned to Willy who was still having his flashback.

"I want to pick a room," he demanded.

"Fine," Willy smiled happily. "But choose wisely."

Mike turned around looked at the many different rooms and finally decided. The elevator stopped and headed into a different direction. It seemed they were heading for a different circular building and it was brighter than the other. The glass doors opened and Willy quickly jumped out.

"Here," He reached for some glasses. "Put these on and don't take them off. There are ratio active waves in this room and they are bad for your eyes. It could make you go blind."

He gestured for them to follow and they did so as he walked down the side stairs. The room was completely white and a handful of Oompa Loompas were in the room playing around with a huge machine. They were all wearing the white glasses and white outfits. The group seemed very out of place since the colors of their outfits would contrast with the white.

"Now this is the testing room for my latest chocolate related invention, Television Chocolate. I don't watch the TV much myself but it popped into my mind when I was watching the news a few weeks back. With all those food commercials, it got me thinking."

"What popped into your mind," said Mr. Teavee.

"The idea, of course. I figured out a way to send chocolate from my factory to any house in the world by using television. I never thought that box would be so useful."

"That's impossible," cried Mike Teavee. "You can send stuff through TV. If it were possible someone would have invented it a long time ago. You're just wasting your time."

"MUMBLER!" Willy yelled at him. "Seriously, I can't understand a single word your saying."

"Mr. Wonka? Have you tried with the chocolate?" Amber was trying to change the subject.

"That is what I am going to show you right now."

The group turned their heads to see six Oompa Loompas carrying a huge bar of chocolate. They brought it to the middle of the room where they placed it on a small platform and then walked away. The others were getting ready for the experiment. There were two sitting on a huge camera, three working the main controls and one writing down everything that happened.

"The reason why the chocolate is so big because when something is being filmed it gets smaller. Like in movies, the people look very small but they really aren't."

Willy reached out and pressed a big red button that was right in front of him. The huge bar of chocolate started to lift of the ground and slowly rose into the air. The Oompa Loompas at the enormous white camera were preparing to film when suddenly there was a white flash and the bar was gone. Amber looked again at the platform just to make sure her eyes weren't playing tricks on her.

"It's gone," she turned to Willy.

"See now that bar is being transferred over to the television."

Willy turned around and rushed over to the other side of the room where an Oompa Loompa was sitting in front of a television watching a nature show. Willy told the group to watch the screen and they gathered around it. Amber could see the bar of chocolate coming in and she couldn't believe it.

"Take it," he nudged Mike.

"It's just a picture on a screen."

"Shows what you know," he turned to Amber. "You take it."

Amber took a deep breath and reached out into the screen. Her hand went right through and grabbed the chocolate bar. She couldn't believe that she just took a bar of chocolate out of the television. She looked down at the bar in disbelief and she turned to Willy. He asked her to take a bit of it and she did.

"It's great!" she smiled.

"Just imagine," he walked over to the Oompa Loompas. "You are at home and one of these commercials will pop onto the screen and it will be about the chocolates. All you have to do it get up and reach into the screen. I am thinking it will be popular with the children."

"It's a brilliant idea. But I don't think many will actually get that you have to reach out for it," Amber commented.

"I will make sure to put in on the screen," Willy smiled.

"If you can send chocolate then can't you send other thing? Like people?" Mike spoke up.

"Why would I want to send a person through the TV? I only have Oompa Loompas at this factory and I am not going to send myself."

"No, no, no," he started to raise his voice. "See this here. This could be a teleporter. Every scientist has tried to make one of these for centuries. You could sell millions in one day."

"Mike," Mr. Teavee glared at his son.

"No, don't you see," he snapped back. "He doesn't know anything. He only thinks about chocolate and candy. But not me, I am going to show him what I am talking about."

Mike dashed off, jumped over the sitting Oompa Loompa, ran to the other side of the room, knocked down two other Oompa Loompas, ran up to the top, pressed the red button and jumped onto the platform. The lights went on and Mike started to float up. He was doing fancy moves and trying to impress his father. Suddenly the flash went again and he disappeared.

"He's gone," his father gasped.

"Let's see if he appears on the screen," said Willy turning around. "I sure hope none of him gets left behind."

"What?" Mr. Teavee was concerned now.

"In some tests, only half the chocolate bar came through and the other it didn't."

"What do you mean it didn't come through? Doesn't it always work?" Amber looked over at him.

"Sometimes the pieces are too big for the transfer and it never makes it to its destination. Remember it's still in testing."

"Look there he is," his father said.

Willy turned around and talked to the Oompa Loompa sitting in the chair. The channels started to change and music could be heard. Mike slowly appeared on the screen and his father was a little relieved. On every different channel there were Oompa Loompas dancing a singing to very catchy music and Willy had started to dance again.

Willy twitched a little as the screen went blank and only Mike could be seen. He told his father to take him before something bad would happen again. Mr. Teavee reached into the screen and took his three-inch tall son into his hand. Everyone looked down at the small boy and then back at his father.

"This is great. He is completely unharmed," Willy smiled.

"Unharmed? What are you talking about?" Mr. Teavee was very angry.

"Just be happy you got your whole son instead of just pieces of him," Amber looked over at him.

"Just put me back in the other way," the high pitch voice of Mike could be heard.

"There is no other way. It's tele_vision_ not tele_phone_. So get used to being small. It's not as bad as you think."

"What am I supposed to do with him?" his father demanded.

"I don't know," Mr. Wonka thought for a little while. "Don't worry. He should start growing any time soon and he could pass at a five year old."

"I don't want my ten year old to look like a five year old. I want him back to his size."

"We could always give him growth pills," Willy thought for a moment and then smiled. "We could put him in the taffy puller."

"Taffy puller?" Mr. Teavee cried.

"Do I have an echo or something?" Willy looked down at Mike. "Boy is he going to be skinny. Yeah taffy puller," he turned around to the Oompa Loompas who was in the chair. "Take these two to the taffy puller and stretch out the little boy, okay?"

The Oompa Loompa stood up from his seat, walked over to Mr. Teavee and tugged on his pants. He looked down and followed the little man out of the room. Willy exhaled and started to walk to the other side of the room where the elevator was. The lights in the rooms were dying down and everyone was leaving. Amber placed the chocolate down and followed him.

"There is so much to see," he took off his glasses. "Now who is still here?"

"Only me," Amber said in a low voice.

"Only you? Where is everyone else?"

"They got into situations where either they were sucked up a tube, turned into a balloon, attacked my squirrels or downsized."

"Oh my dear girl," a huge smile came across his face and he started to shake her hand totally ignoring her comment. "That's means you've won. I never thought that you would make it this far. Since it is just the two of us I must show you something but we must hurry."

He pulled away her hand and quickly turned around only to run into the closed doors the elevator. Amber watched him fall to the ground and quickly fixed his hat while getting back up. It reminded her of the time she ran into the door at school and everyone was laughing at her. He gestured to come into the elevator and she followed. Willy looked at one of the buttons and then pressed it.

"Up and out? Is that another twisted room of yours?" she looked up at him.

"You'll see."


	20. The Amazing Prize but at a Cost

Chapter 20 – The Amazing Prize but at a Cost 

So many ideas were popping into her head of what this room could be about. The title itself was questionable and it brought her nowhere. Amber looked up to see where the elevator was going and she couldn't see anything. Willy was also looking up and down and he looked very trouble. This expression was not very reassuring for Amber,

"That's weird. It should be picking up speed. We have to break through," he said to himself.

"Break through what?" she looked up at him.

"You don't know how many times I have wanted to press that button," he smiled. "It's almost time! Up and out we go!"

"You don't really mean…" she thought he was kidding.

"Yeah I do."

"We could die. This elevator won't stand the impact," she backed up into the wall and watched him laugh hysterically. "You're mad!"

"How can I possibly be mad? I am smiling aren't I?"

Willy looked up and Amber did too. The area around them started to get brighter and they could see the top of the factory. Amber covered her head as they broke through the roof. She slowly opened her eyes to see nothing but clouds and white. The elevator stopped shooting upwards and now was falling towards the ground. Amber held her stomach and Willy turned around. He started to look through the buttons and finally pushed one. The elevator stopped because mini rockets on the top were supporting it.

Amber covered her mouth and held her stomach. It wasn't the best experience ever but she was glad it was over. Willy seemed very happy and he was smiling. Amber glared at him as she tried to hold her lunch. The elevator went around to the front of the factory and all the other children were coming out of the front doors.

Augustus was the first to come out. He was covered in chocolate and he was eating his own fingers. His mother was yelling at him and grabbing his hand. Mrs. Beauregarde came walking out with her daughter's jacket under her arm and Violet was flipping out the factory. She seemed very flexible and she was showing it off but she was still blue. Mr. Salt and his spoiled daughter came walking out with garbage all over them. They didn't seem very happy and they were arguing like an old married couple. The final child to walk out was Mike Teavee and his father. The little boy was no long a little boy. He was so tall and so thin. Amber watched as they passed over them.

"Where is your house?" she heard Willy ask.

"That one," she turned around pointed to one of the house. "It's that one, the black one at the very end."

The elevator flew over to the house and landed right in front of it. The glass doors opened and Amber walked out. She went up the stairs to her house and opened the door. Willy followed her in and looked around. She stood in the entrance as he walked around. It felt awkward to have the chocolatier standing in her house. She never thought it would happen.

"Where are your par….pfftt….pre…"

"Parents?" she looked at him. "I only have a mother."

"Where is she?" he turned around

"In the hospital," she looked down.

"Oh, then we should go visit her, shall we?"

"I don't think that's a good idea."

Before she finished her sentence Willy walked out of the house and completely ignoring her again. She sighed and followed him out of the house. They walked into the elevator and it went off towards the hospital. Amber tried avoiding his conversation and gaze. She just wanted him to do what he wanted to do and go back to his factory. She then could continue her life and remember her oh-so-great visit to his factory.

The elevator landed and Amber quickly walked out. She knew Willy was following her so she didn't look back. They walked down the hallway and everyone was looking at them. Some of the people actually knew who was following the young girl and they couldn't believe it. The chocolatier hadn't been seen in years and seeing him was causing quite a commission.

Amber showed him the room where her mother was in and they walked in together. Immediately, she walked up to her mother's side and took her hand. Her mother's eye slowly opened and a smile came across her face. They talked for a while and Amber turned around. She gestured for Willy to come closer. He hesitated but then walked up the bed.

"Mr. Wonka, this is my mother."

"Hi," he waved.

Her mother sat up and looked at him for a while. Amber looked from Willy to her mother and Willy seemed to be in a daze. After a few moments, her mother's whole face seemed to brighten up and she smiled. Amber was a little lost and slowly gave them some space to talk. She never saw her mother react in the way she did towards anyone, not even to her own daughter.

"William. I can't believe it's you," she said in a soft voice.

"Emily?" he looked around the room. "Emily?"

"It's been so long."

"What are you doing here?" he sat down on the bed.

"Being a mother took it toll on me I guess," she coughed. "I am just so glad to see you again."

"I just can't…" he tried to find the words but nothing came out.

"I want you to be there for her. But I guess it was never meant to be," she sighed.

"Her? There's another?"

"Your daughter," she pointed to Amber.

Willy was just as shocked at Amber. They both exchanged looks and looked at her mother who was smiling. Their expressions were exactly a like and it amazed her. Amber walked over and sat on the other side of the bed. Both of them were speechless and couldn't make eye contact. Willy knew there was something about the girl but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"You two are so a like in many ways," she smiled.

"I never knew," Willy finally said.

"Maman, why didn't you tell me? Is this why you wanted the ticket? To see him again?"

"Amber, I knew I was going to see him again. It was just going to take time."

"Emily… I should have been there for you…" he started to say but he stopped in mid sentence.

"I am just glad I could see you again."

She smiled sweetly and slowly closed her eyes. Her hand went limb in Willy's grip and Amber eyes widened. She grabbed her mother's hand and it was slowly loosing its heat. Willy looked at the girl and he could understand her pain. Her eyes were beginning to tear and she was trying to wake her mother. She couldn't face the fact that her mother was gone.

"I didn't think it would happen so soon," she whispered.

"Amber, I should have told you this before but I am going you my whole factory."

"What?" her head shot up.

"I just realized that I won't be around fore-," he smiled.

"I don't want your stupid factory," she interrupted. "If it wasn't for your stupid chocolates my mother would still be alive."

Amber quickly stood up and ran out of the room. She didn't want to be any where near that man or his chocolates. The doors of the hospital automatically opened when she ran in front of it and it was raining. She didn't care that she got wet when she was walking home. The only thing that mattered was that she got home.

The house was even as gloomy as before. Everything seemed more dark and old. The house had no lights on, the rain on the windows gave it a very sad look to the walls and there was no sound at all. Amber took off her coat and boots and walked up the stairs to her room.


	21. The Funeral

Chapter 21 – The Funeral

It was a couple of days after the passing of Amber's mother that the funeral was taking place. All her classmates were there even James, all the people that knew her mother were there but yet one was missing. Everyone shook her hand and gave her their condolences. The whole time she had to plaster on a fake smile to keep herself from crying.

"Amber, I am so sorry," James said to her.

"I just thought I had more time," she started to cry.

"Please don't cry."

James wrapped his arms around her to comfort her as she cried. He had stayed with her through the whole week when he was not in school and it made her feel a bit better, knowing that she could count on someone being there for her in her time of need. It was also great to have company in her gloomy house. It brightened it up a little more than usual.

On the fourth day was when her mother was going to be buried, Amber stood along in the rain while the priest spoke and gave his blessings. Only a few people came and stood by her but their company only made it worse. The priest left with the others and Amber stood alone in the rain.

She wrapped her arms around herself and started to cry. Everything she ever had was now gone and she was left with nothing. She felt her body shaking with the cold and the rain falling onto her body. It suddenly stopped and she looked up. Willy was standing next to her with an umbrella. He looked down at the grave and said his final goodbyes to the one he loved most.

"Sorry I am late. I had to get her the right gift."

In his hand was a bouquet of her mother's favorite flowers. Amber knew they weren't real since they started to melt from the rain when he placed them down on the grave. They must have been made of some sort of candy from his factory. They stood in silence as they said their final goodbyes. They walked up the street together in silence and they didn't look at each other. Amber stopped in front of her house and looked up at it. There was nothing there for her anymore and she had to move on. She sighed and continued to walk up the street with Willy.

"Does this mean you are coming to live at the factory?" he finally said.

"There is nothing for me back at that house…" she sighed. "And you are the only family I have left."

"You will like it at the factory. The Oompa Loompas will love your company," he was all excited.

"I just hope I won't fall into a chocolate river or get attacked by squirrels," she glared at him.

"My dear girl, no, that only happens if you are a rotten child, who you are not… or I least I think you're not," he looked a little unsure.

"I am not."

"Than excellent!"

Willy pulled out his ring of keys and started to look through them for the right one to open the door to get into the factory. Amber was looking at the right key, she reached out and grabbed one. Willy looked at her then tried the key she found and it opened the factory.

"It looks like you're a pro at this," he giggled.

"You seriously need to organize your keys."

"What's the point in that? An organized life means a crazy mind," he said in a-matter-of-fact kind of voice.

"A crazy life means a disorganized mind," she snapped back.

His mouth dropped opened and he stopped walking. He only starred down at her in shock. Amber knew he wasn't expecting such a come back but she was quite pleased about his reaction. She knew that they were more alike than two people could be and she was going to use that to her advantage.

"We are more alike than you think Mr. Wonka. So get used to the come backs," she smiled.

Willy was still shocked and didn't know what to say. She sighed and continued to walk to the factory. Four Oompa Loompas greeted her as she entered, thinking she was Willy. They looked at each other and wondered where he was.

"He's a little busy at the moment with being shocked and all," she giggled.

The four Oompa Loompas looked at each other then out the door to see Willy was walking towards the door. Amber was half walk down the hallway when the doors closed. She wanted to explore the part of the factory she didn't see on the tour. She was walking around the whole factory for hours on end. She had almost visited all the rooms and she was amazed. From the outside it looked like an average size factory but inside it was enormous. She was looking through the buttons on the elevator wall and noticed one on the far bottom.

"Amber Room?"

Amber pressed the button and the elevator went in a different direction, like always. It seemed it was heading upward most of the time. The elevator stopped, the doors opened and Willy was standing with his back to her. He didn't seem to hear the elevator doors open since he didn't turn around. She stepped down and he jumped a mile away in shock.

"AH!"

"You're easily frightened, you do know that?"

"I just wasn't expecting you to be here," he smiled.

"Well you should expect the unexpected," she crossed her arms.

Willy opened his mouth to say something but closed it quickly. He wasn't going to keep arguing about nothing because that's she wanted and he didn't want to give her the satisfaction. Instead he turned to the Oompa Loompas at his side and waved them away. He wanted some time along with his own blood and flesh.

"Well my dear girl," he looked at her. "This will be your room. I ever so hope you like it. I tried matching the colors to the ones you like."

"You actually had a room made for me. I am very impressed."

Amber actually took the time to look around too see her surroundings. The walls were a nice peachy color, the carpet was a beige color, the furniture was white, all the fabrics were a pale orange and the room had a peachy smell to it. It was for sure brighter than her old room but it was nice. It was more than she could have asked for.

"It's really thoughtful of you," she turned to him.

"Well since you are going to be living here I took a lot of time to design it. I am glad you like it," he smiled.

"Does this mean I have to call you 'Dad' from now on?"

Willy smiled disappeared and it looked like he was thinking. The question would have popped up sooner or later. He was her biological father and it would make sense but it would also be weird calling him that. Willy didn't seem to be the father type. He never saw himself being a father until now.

"I don't know," he looked a little lost. "But I will think about it."

Amber nodded and he pointed to the door. He slowly walked out of the room and headed down the hallway. He seemed really troubled about that name thing but she knew he would figure it out and turned her thoughts onto other things. She started to look through the whole room. Everything was where it was supposed to be and it was perfect. She slowly pulled away the curtains to the window and gasped. It was nightfall and the whole town was lit up. She had never seen the town from this point of view before and it was breath taking.

"This is going to take a little getting used to," she said to herself.

Everything was going to get a little getting used to. She wouldn't be able to wake up to the street noises or sleep in her dark gloomy room anymore and getting used to that stupid elevator was going to be a challenge. She yawned as she looked through the drawers of her dresser for some other clothes to change into. Luckily she found peach colored pajamas in the bottom drawer and changed into them. She turned off the lights and climbed into the queen size bed. Amber lied under all the covers just thinking about everything that had happened and slowly but surely fell asleep.


	22. A Little Getting Used To

Chapter 22 – A Little Getting Used To

The weekend had passed and Amber had brought everything she had to her new room in the factory from her old one. She was planning to go back to school the next Monday but the factory was becoming very boring so she was going back earlier. She was in the front entrance tying her boots when Willy was walking towards her. He seemed very troubled and he was walking a little faster than usual. She stood up holding her backpack and smiled.

"Where are you going?" he looked at her.

"I am going to school."

"School? Why would you go there?" he looked very confused.

"I would like an education so I could continue in life."

"But you will be running the factory. You should be here not out there gallivanting around."

"I will 'gallivant' all I want."

She glared at him and turned around. He tried to stop her but she slammed the door in his face. Amber walked out of the main gates and checked to see if anyone was looking. Quickly she opened the door and ran out. It was almost time for school to start so Amber started run. She didn't want to be late for her first day back from all the past events.

The bell rang and Amber ran into the class. Some people started to stare at her and whisper into their friend's ear. The teacher came into the class and calmed all the students down. The whole class was very boring and she wished that she were back at the factory. After a long day that seemed to drag on forever, the final bell rang and Amber was very glad. She reached her locker and started to pack when Andrea came up to her. She didn't seem too pleased but yet she had a smirk on her pale face. Her other friends were behind her and they had their arms crossed with the same look plastered on their faces. Amber could feel trouble coming her way.

"Oh look, it's Amber. You haven't been around for a while. Where have you been?

"It's none of your business," she glared at her.

"It seems you have been in a much _sweeter_ place than usual."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Amber raised at eyebrow.

"Victoria here saw you coming out of the chocolate factory this morning. Have you been busy with the chocolatier?"

"Shut up!" Amber glared and walked away.

"I can't believe she is living with that crazy Wonka man," Andrea laughed.

"Don't speak about my father that way," Amber yelled.

Hundreds of people in the hallways turned to face her. That was when she realized what she just said. She had just revealed her deepest darkest secret to half the school. Andrea was both smiling and shocked at the same time. Amber's face turned beet red and she could feel tears in her eyes. She turned around and ran out of the school. Everyone was looking at her when she was speed walking out off the school grounds. Some of the younger grades were laughing at her but some looked up at her in admiration. Before she turned the turner to head towards the factory something grabbed her arm.

"Amber?"

"What?" she turned around to see James.

"Why are you walking so fast?"

"Did you come here to laugh at me too?" she looked at the ground.

"Laugh at you about what? Amber what's going on?" he tried to catch her eye.

"The fact I am Willy Wonka's daughter and everyone thinks that funny," she turned away.

"I wouldn't laugh at you about that. People don't choose their parents. I bet he is a very interesting person," he smiled.

"He is a bit weird," she giggled.

They walked to the factory together and they had many good laughs. Amber had become more comfortable around him now and she was glad about it. Before she walked into the factory James gave her a hug and she blushed. She said her good-byes and entered the factory.

She was walking trough the halls to her room when she bumped into Willy. He was happy to see her but she only glared and continued to walk. He followed her to see what was the matter but it was no hope. She slammed the door in his face before he had the chance to say one word. A couple of hours passed, Amber stayed in her room holding her teddy bear and crying. She hated everything around her and she just wanted it to go away. Even the company of James couldn't take away the pain. She stood up to meet the eyes of Willy. He was smiling until he saw the tears in her eyes.

"Why are you crying? Are you sad?"

"Well of course I am sad. Why else would I be crying? Because I am overjoyed?" she turned away.

"You don't have to snap back. I just wanted to know what's wrong," he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Some girls at school made fun of me because I am related to you," tears started to role down her cheek.

"Don't let that stop you," he was being serious for once. "Who cares who you are related to? You should be happy for what you have."

"That's what James said," she whipped away her tears.

"James?" he eyed her down.

"A friend from school, he has been helping me out lately," she smiled.

Willy padded her hesitantly on the shoulder and she giggled. She didn't know that he was such a good person to talk to. Amber wrapped her arms around him and held him close. He was a little shocked but he hesitated to return the gesture. She could feel that she was actually connecting with him on some level or another and she liked it. Amber walked down the hallway of the school with her head held up high and proud. Some of the people were looking at her from what happened the day before but she didn't care. She pumped into Andrea and she seemed shocked to see her at school.

"I would think you wouldn't have come in today," Andrea smirked.

"I wouldn't let something like that effect me."

"I can see how you two are related. I guess weirdness runs in the family," she giggled.

"And I see jealousy runs in yours," she snapped back.

"Snapping back, are we? You should learn your place and stick with your sweets."

"But I least I will have a job and not being a slut," Amber laughed.

Andrea's mouth dropped open and she watched as Amber walked away. She had won that battle and she was very proud of it. Now she knew how Willy felt when he fought with one of the children that came to the factory. Willy's personality had rubbed off on her a little but it was handy. Matters started to get better and Andrea started to leave her alone more now. Students didn't give her dirty looks or talked behind her back anymore, instead they started to talk to her. Everything was changing and Amber was beginning to like it. It was starting to look better than it did before.


	23. Fun at the Park

Chapter 23 – Fun at the Park

It was a beautiful spring day and outside the sun was shinning down on the melting snow. Amber had woken up late since it was the weekend and she had nothing better to do. The past couple of months had been pretty good. Willy wasn't so weird anymore and she actually liked spending time with him. She had helped him create new candies and they were a big hit in stores.

They had invented a safe version of Chewing Gum Meal and everyone loved them. Amber had secretly made candies that exploded in people's mouths, which she wanted to try on Andrea, but never had the chance. Everything was going fine and the candy was great.

Amber was walking down the hall towards the elevator and twenty Oompa Loompas passed her caring boxes. She stopped and wondered where they were going with the boxes and where was Willy. A few moments later, Willy came walking down the hallway reading some papers.

"Good morning, Willy." She smiled.

"Ah!" he looked up at her from his papers. "It's not such a good morning."

"Why not?"

"Some people are coming to the factory today. I just received a letter this morning."

"People? What are you planning?" she glared at him.

"Nothing… How could you assume I am planning something?" he crossed his arms while making shifty eyes.

"Well," she looked up at him. "Last time people came to the factory there were few incidents."

"This is different. It's the Health Inspector," he handed her the papers.

"Holy crap," she read the letter. "What are you going to do?"

"He is going to come and see the factory. But I don't know what to do with my Oompa Loompas or you."

"I could leave for the day and can't the Oompa Loompas go to their villages?"

"What would I do without you?" he smiled.

He took back the letter and continued to walk down the hallway with his workers. Amber went back to her room and got ready for the day. She was planning to go out and spend the day at the bookstore or just go out walking. It was such a beautiful day that she was going to enjoy it.

There were a lot of people in the stores and outside. She guessed that everyone was going to enjoy the day as well since no one had school and some weren't at work. The snow was melting and it was becoming warmer by the day. Summer was just around the corner and a lot of people were happy about it.

Amber walked into the bookstore and there were a few people walking around and reading. She was planning to buy a few cookbooks since Willy's cooking was terrible. She couldn't believe that a guy like him could make such wonderful candy and yet still burn instant soup in the microwave. From now on she was going to do the cooking and not allow him to go any where near the kitchen.

She bought two thick books with everything from easy meals to full two course meals. The cashier gave her a funny look when she slammed both books onto the counter and she smiled awkwardly. The word had finally gone around that she was Willy's daughter but she had gotten used to it by now. When she was walking out of the store she pumped into someone and she dropped her books into her foot. She swore a lot and held her foot as she balanced on one leg. The boy apologies and gave her back her books. Amber looked up and smiled.

"Hey James."

"Oh, hello Amber. I didn't recognize you," he smiled.

"It's the hat. It hides my face," she pointed to her winter hat.

"Yeah, so how've you been? You never talked about your day at the factory."

"I shall tell you then. Let's walk."

They walked down the street and talked. James seemed very interested in every word she said because he hadn't said a word to her in awhile. She told him about that day she went to the factory and he hardly believed what happened to the children. They continued to walk when they reached the park. There were patches of snow here and there but the path was clear of everything. Amber put down her books and shoulder bag. She sighed as she sat down and James joined her. Carrying those books all day wasn't easy and her back really hurt.

"Well you seem to be having a great time at the factory," he said.

"It can be fun at times. Willy can get really annoying at times."

"He must be an interesting guy though."

"He gets to you sometimes," she looked at him. "Popping up when you don't expect and acting weird when you say something wrong."

"But you lived with him this long."

"I know but it's started to get repetitive. I am starting to go crazy," she looked at him.

"Amber you have been through a lot. I know you will get through this. You are a strong person," he smiled at her.

"Thank you James," she blushed.

He leaned in and kissed her lightly on the lips. Her face was beet red and she didn't know what to say or do. She looked at him and he just smiled. She opened her mouth to say something but she was interrupted by a huge bang. Her head snapped around to see smoke coming out from the factory.

"Oh my god," her eyes widened.

"Amber?"

"I am sorry James. I have to see what's going on. Willy could be in trouble or hurt."

Before James could protest she ran off towards the factory. This wasn't a normal explosion since they never reached outside the factory. So many questions were going through her thoughts right now. The only one that mattered was if Willy was all right.

She ran through the hallways looking for the room where the explosion came from since the elevator wasn't working. She checked every room on the main floor but she couldn't find him. Suddenly the door to the Inventing Room burst open and Willy walked out with the Health Inspector following him.

"Willy!" she ran up to him. "I saw the explosion. Is everything alright?"

"Oh Amber? I thought you were gone for the day," he smiled at her.

"I was until a saw a cloud a black smoke coming out of the factory. What's going on?"

"I was showing the Inspector around like I told you."

"Willy not again," she sighed.

"Who is this Mr. Wonka? She seems to be in her teen years," the Inspector started to write something down in her notebook.

"She is my dau…ghe…"

"I am his daughter. My name is Amber," she eyed down the Inspector.

"You never told me this Mr. Wonka. Now this changes everyone."

"What do you mean 'changes everything'?" he smiled awkwardly.

"Having a child in the factory. I will have to check up on a few other things," she pulled out another notebook.

"Things shouldn't change," she glared at the Inspector. "I am happy here and no matter what you say I am not leaving."

The Inspector looked down at Amber and sighed. She knew she couldn't do anything to make her leave the factory and she wasn't going to try. Willy seemed to be very happy when the Inspector gave him a good report and he thanked her many times.

When she left Amber just remembered she had forgotten her books with James. It was already dark outside and there was no use going to look for it. Amber knew that he would come by and give them to her or she could just see him at school.

That night when Amber was in the Entertainment Room she heard a buzzing noise and turned towards the door. This was the first time she noticed that there was an intercom on the wall. She walked over and pressed the white button. There was a silence and then she could here James voice.

"Hello? Hello is anyone there?"

"James? Is that you?" she spoke into the speaker.

"Amber? I have your books. You left them on the bench."

"Oh yeah. I will open the gate. Be right down."

Amber ran through the halls to reach the front gate in time since she didn't want James to wait too long in the cold. She opened the front door and there he was holding her two books. He smiled as she took them out of his arms and asked him if he wanted to come in.

They walked through the halls of the factory together and tried to avoid any Oompa Loompas or even Willy. She didn't want to see his reaction when he saw James in his factory just walking about. Plus the fact that he might get really mad and throw her into a chocolate river. Amber saw someone walking down the hall and she immediately pushed James into the nearest room to only find an Oompa Loompas walking by with a box in his hands. She sighed and brought him into her room.

"This is so nerve racking," she started to pace.

"Calm down Amber. I am sure-"

"You don't understand," she interrupted him. "Willy is so over protective of his factory and his secrets. It was a bad idea to bring you in here."

"I could leave you know," he stood up.

"No don't. I hardly have company over. Please stay."

She walked up to him and tugged on his sleeve for him to stop heading towards the door. He slowly turned around and faced her. She blushed and she could tell because the heat could be felt all over her body. He smiled and kissed her softly on the lips. Suddenly there was a high pitch scream and Amber pulled away. Standing in the doorway was a horrified Willy with his mouth wide open.

He looked back and forth from Amber to James and didn't know what to make of the situation. He kept on opening his mouth to speak but just closing it a few moments later and shifting his eyes. James had put his hands in his pockets and was slightly blushing. She could tell he felt a little awkward and it didn't help that there was a silence between them.

"Willy I can explain," she gestured forward.

"I'm going to my room."

Before she could say anything or do anything Willy had turned around and dashed down the hallway. Amber sighed and turned to face James. There was a silence between the two until he sneezed and scratched his nose. She looked up at him and smiled sympathetically.

"I think I should go," he finally said.

"Yeah…"

"I will see you at school."

"Yeah…"

Without another word James waved good-bye and left the room. She stood all alone and thought over what just happened. She hadn't seen Willy that horrified ever in her life at the factory and it bothered her. The thought that she did something wrong kept popping up in her head and it wouldn't go away.

Finally, after thinking it over for about half an hour, she started to head towards Willy's room. She just had to clear the air before going to sleep or even doing anything else. Amber knocked softly on the door and waited for him to say something. When there was no answer she slowly opened the door and saw him standing next to the window.

Willy seemed to be in his normal clothes but without his jacket and hat. It looked like he was thinking since he wasn't even moving and it looked like he wasn't breathing. She slowly walked in and closed the door behind her. When she did so she noticed Willy's hand twitched.

"Willy?" she said softly.

"Yes?"

"I can explain what happened."

"You don't have to," he said in a normal tone.

"What?"

"You reminded me of Emily at that age, heh. You are so much like her."

"Am I really?" she walked up to him.

"Yes," he paused. "So that's James."

"How did you know?" she looked up at him.

"Your face was red as a cherry. I was the same around your mother," he giggled.

"So I guess I got both sides of the family in me," she laughed.

"Yeah…"

"Were you mad at me for bringing him into the factory?"

"Not at all, I was just shocked to see another person with you. He could come anytime he wants as long as it makes you happy."

Willy turned towards her and smiled. She smiled and was relieved that he hadn't started yelling at her or not talked to her. But it was odd that he spoke in a normal tone. He had never done that before even when he was serious. There was a long silence and Amber said her good-byes. She slowly walked back to her room smiling to herself.


	24. Memories

Chapter 24 - Memories

From that day on everything was all right. James had the pleasure to meet Willy and it went all right. It took Willy sometime to get used to two teenagers in the factory as long as they didn't bother him; he was all right with them. Amber was quite happy they got along because she didn't want to image if they didn't.

Amber had the chance one weekend to go back to her old house and clear everything out of it that was hers. James had helped her that day since there was more junk in that house that she though possible. She found so much that belonged to her mother and one thing she wanted to show Willy.

A couple of days later, Amber was walking through the factory and she was looking for Willy holding a thick leather book. She walked into the Testing Room and believe it or not there he was standing in front of a huge table with numerous test tubes. She walked over to him and looked over his shoulder to see what he was making.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"AH!" he jumped back. "I thought you were at school."

"School ended two weeks ago," she raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, well then where have you been?" he was a little confused.

"I have been around the factory and been going out a little," she smiled.

"I guess I should be more observant. What do you have there?," he pointed to the book.

"Oh this," she looked down at it. "I found it when I was going through her things. I didn't know she had so much junk."

"Then what's in it?" he seemed to want to know really badly.

"That's what I wanted to show you. I looked through it before and I think you should see what's inside."

Willy agreed and followed her out of the Testing Room. They walked into the library, which was filled with many bookshelves, couches and tables. The room was a nice bottle green with a finishing of navy blue. They sat down on one of the couches and opened the book. On the first page, there was a beautiful picture of a woman in her teen years. Her dark auburn hair was tied to one side, which flipped over her shoulder, her emerald eyes shown out of the picture, her skin much darker and she was wearing the most beautiful blue dress.

"Is that my mother?" Amber was quite shocked.

"Yeah," he gazed down into the picture.

"She was so beautiful," she whispered.

They turned the page and it showed some pictures of her and her parents. It seemed to be a photo album that her mother made when she was still alive. The pictures seemed to be taken at the beach in the summer and Willy was smiling at them. Amber turned the page and there were a few pictures of her mother and a boy.

"This is what I don't get. She never had brother so I don't know who this boy is," Amber pointed to the picture.

"How did she get this," he seemed a little mad and shocked.

"Willy, you mean this is you?"

He looked away and turned the page to find more pictures of him. Amber knew right away that the boy was Willy by his reaction. His eyes widened and he kept on turning the pages until he stopped when he saw a picture of Emily and in her arms was a little baby. She looked happy but he could tell in her eyes that she was sad. She was missing someone by her side.

"Oh, this was when I was born," she smiled.

"I should have been there," he said softly.

He turned the page quickly looking through all the pictures; there were a lot of the many birthdays, holidays and social gatherings. Most of the pictures were of Amber when she was growing up and what she was going through. Willy was smiling to himself. There were some of her gymnastic competitions, swimming tournaments and piano recitals.

"She treasured you because you looked and acted so much like me," he suddenly said.

"Do you really think so?" she looked up at him.

Willy flicked through more of the pages and noticed something. There weren't any more pictures of Amber's grandparents and her mother became less vibrant. The pictures became less happy and more sullen. Amber seemed to smile less and there weren't any more pictures of the family as a whole.

He turned his head to face Amber and she was looking up at him with her familiar emerald eyes. He suddenly closed the book and stood up. Amber caught it before it hit her foot and she looked up at Willy. She tried to catch his eye but he just avoided her gaze and ran out of the room.

"Willy!"

She held the book close to her as she sat on the big couch all alone. She didn't know what had gotten into Willy but she wanted to find out. After a few minutes of sitting she slowly stood up and went to find him. Knowing Willy very well he usually went to his room to think. She thought that since he always smelt of peanuts. His room was peanuts scented even though the coloration was in the purple hues.

A couple of hours passed and Amber was lying on her back on the floor of her bedroom. The peachy smell kept her calm and she wanted to sleep. The photo album was right next to her and her hand was touching its spine. She wanted to talk to Willy when he ran out of the library but she wanted to give him his space. She just wanted to talk to him and not argue.

She wasn't expecting him to react like that when she showed him the album. She thought he was going to be happy and that she could share the moments with him. People can changed their moods so easily when something new in introduced to them that they never wanted to know. She didn't think he would react in this way.

This was one of them. Maybe Willy never wanted to know about her life before she came to the factory. Maybe he liked only seeing one side of her. Maybe he never really thought about any of this but knowing Willy that was an option.

Amber continued to lie on the floor thinking up many possibilities of what could have happened or would have happened if Willy and her mother never met. She started to ask so many questions that her head started to hurt. After a few moments she finally stood up and walked out of the room. His bedroom door was slightly ajar and there was no light on. She slowly popped her head into the room and there he was again standing next to the window once again. She always wondered why he liked looking out the window but yet she liked it too.

"Willy?" she said softly.

"I'm sorry," he said in a sad voice.

"Sorry for what?" she walked up to him. "You just left the room. You shouldn't be sorry about th-"

"No not that," he interrupted her. "About not being there and worrying about the factory."

"Willy?" she placed a hand on his arm. "Have you thought about what it would have been like if you never started making chocolate?"

"No not really."

"Everything could have been totally different. Maybe if you went on another path you would have ended up somewhere else. But sometimes you should be glad you took the path you chose."

"You think just like your mother."

"I am just glad I chose this path," she looked out the window. "I wouldn't want it any other way."

Amber wrapped her arms around his waist and held him close. Willy hesitated before returning the gesture. He thought having a child in the factory would be a problem but it was better than he had expected. Instead of living alone for the rest of his life, other then the company of the Oompa Loompas, he would be spending it with his daughter and her beloved James.


	25. Bonus : Loompa Land

(Bonus) Chapter 25 – Loompa Land

Her emerald eyes followed the water as it dripped onto the windowsill. Once again it was raining in the town and Amber had nothing to do. There were always gloomy days in England in the month of May. It was springtime so most of the rain and bad weather was around this time. It was very depressing for the children since hey couldn't play outside.

She was often stuck inside with nothing to do. Willy had been very busy with some of his candy experiments, which she wasn't allowed to help with and James was away on vacation in the Americas. It was that time of year when a lot of people traveled to get away from the weather. She thought it would be an awesome idea but Willy would never agree with her.

A sigh escaped her mouth as she stood up to go wonder around the factory. She had walked these halls so many times that she could close her eyes and still find your way around. Amber missed the days when she spent almost all her time with Willy making top-notch candies and being happy together.

Things changed when the snow started to melt and she stayed out more after school with James. When they would talk it was mainly about school and then Willy would go silent. He daydreamed a lot and stayed in his room most of the day. She would rarely start a conversation with him unless it was about supplies for the factory.

Amber walked into the Chocolate Room to see Willy standing next to the chocolate river. He seemed to be in deep thought and she didn't want to bother him. She simply just took a lollipop and started to head down the walkway. Willy snapped out of his daydream when he heard her footsteps close by.

He turned around to see Amber starring down at him licking a lollipop that was clearly too big. He gave an uneasy smile and he gave a little wave. A big smile crossed her face as she walked over to him. He was relieved to have her company since it had been a while he had seen her smile.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked.

"Just about stuff," he simply answered.

"Thought of any new candy?" she was trying to make conversation.

"They're still in testing."

She nodded as an Oompa Loompa walked up to Willy and tugged on his coat. He quickly bent over to hear what the little man had to say. A grin cross his face as the Oompa Loompa was dismissed and he stood up to face Amber. She wanted to know what the chocolatier was planning and she wanted to know if it was for the good of the factory.

"Pack up your things, Amber," he giggled. "We are going on a little trip."

Amber ran back and forth from her suitcase to her dresser. Willy hadn't told her anything about where they were going or what kind of clothes to wear. She shoved almost her whole wardrobe into that little suitcase before her cell phone rang. When she picked up the phone there was a lot of static until she heard a very familiar voice.

"Amber? Amber are you there?" James' voice echoed.

"James? I thought you were in America?" she was very surprised.

"I just woke up. It's morning here," he yawned. "I just called to tell you I will be back tomorrow night."

"I wish I could be there to welcome you but I am going away."

"Where? When? Why?" he seemed a little confused.

"Willy popped this vacation on me right now," she sighed. "I will be leaving soon."

"Well try to stay in touch. I will expect your call tomorrow."

"I will try. I miss you," she smiled to herself. "I will see you when I get back.

"Miss you too. Bye Amber."

When she pressed the end button her bedroom door swung open and Willy walked through. He was a little surprised to see that she was done packing and he smiled. They quickly walked through the halls and Amber had a hard time with his pace since she had to lug behind her suitcase. They walked through doors that she had never seen before. She thought she had been everywhere in the factory but there were some hidden doors that she didn't think where there before. Willy opened the last door and a cool gust of wind blew in her face.

She opened her eyes to see that she was outside in the rain and she was getting wet. Willy gestured for her to follow him as they walked towards a helicopter. Amber was very surprised to see a flying machine with the 'Wonka' logo on it. The colors were different than his usual favorites but the fact that he had a helicopter bothered her.

Willy helped her onto the copter and she sat in one of the two seats. It had a very nice interior. Two Oompa Loompas were piloting and they seemed to know what they were doing. Willy quickly sat in the seat opposite of her after he closed the door to the helicopter.

A smile crossed his face as he looked over at Amber who seemed to be pretty annoyed. He really hadn't told her anything about the trip and telling her at the last minute didn't help either. She simply crossed her arms and waited for an explanation. His smile widened as he tried to think of something to say.

"Willy…" she starred him down.

"Hehe," he laughed nervously. "I would like to tell you but it's a surprise."

"This better be good. I wanted to welcome James home tomorrow."

"Sorry but we are going to be away for a whole week."

"What?" she was ready to tare of his head.

"Please Amber," he put up a hand. "You won't regret it."

She crossed her arms and legs. She liked the way he popped surprises on her but leaving the country was a different thing. After a few minutes of being in the air she started to become very tired. The flight was going to be long but she didn't know how long. She looked out the window for a few moments and she was beginning to feel sleepy.

Amber jolted awake when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Willy smiled and told her that they had arrived. She looked outside the window to see nothing but darkness. She wasn't sure if it was night out or if they were in some sort of tunnel. Willy helped her out of the helicopter and her mouth fell open.

All around where they landed was complete forest. Amber didn't know where Willy had taken her but she had a feeling it was a place where no one had ever been before. She also noticed different clothes on him. They weren't his ordinary violet colors but they were beige and the Oompa Loompas seemed to be more excited than usual.

Willy turned around after talking to the two pilots and smiled at her expression. He walked over and padded her on the head as he climbed back into the helicopter. Amber looked all around her to see if she could guess where she was but none of the plants looked familiar.

A few moments passed and Wily hopped out of the helicopter with a backpack on. Amber gave him a funny look and he turned around to show her a similar bag but smaller. One thing came her mind, camping. She couldn't believe Willy was into leaving his high technological factory to go camping in the wild. But she had only been living with him for a while so she didn't know what he did for vacation.

"Come on Amber," he smiled. "We have a long way to go and it's almost dark."

"How the bloody hell do you know it's going to be dark soon?"

"I just know," his smile became wider.

Amber couldn't believe what she was hearing. She was going to be stuck with the chocolatier in a forest she had never seen before and apparently he knew what he was doing. He never knew what he was doing. Usually it was all improvised and it happened that something good came from it. A heavy sigh escaped her lips as she reached for the backpack and quickly ran to catch up to Willy.

The two walked together through the woods for a few hours. Amber didn't even dare speak a word to Willy since she knew he wouldn't answer her question. When he was hiding something from her he would usually answer everything around the answer to her question. That was probably the only thing she didn't like about him and, of course, his childish behavior at times.

Sun streaked through the trees and it gave the forest a mysterious look to it. But at the same time it was very beautiful to look at. Amber guessed it was morning even though she couldn't see the sun through the trees. They had stopped once or twice to get some rest and eat some food. She knew this was the chance to ask again.

"Willy," she looked up. "Can you please tell me where we are going?"

"I will tell you again. It's a surprise."

"Willy this is not funny. I demand you tell me where we are going."

"Fine," he stood up. "If you want to know that badly then follow me."

Amber was quite surprised that he actually was going to show her why they were here. She thought it would take them another day before he would show her. A little smirk crossed her face as she followed Willy. He stopped in front of a huge canapé wall and turned to face Amber.

"It's been a while since I've been here. Don't mind the mess."

He slowly pulled away the vines to make a little entrance for her. She turned to Willy before making her way into the darkness and she put her hands out in front of her. Willy's foot steps could he heard from behind so she knew she wasn't alone. His voice echoed as she told her to stop.

Amber's eye grew wide when Willy pulled back the last wall of vines. It was something she has never seen before. It looked like houses were built into the trees and it looked like it hadn't been inhabited in a little while. Willy seemed happy to see the site again but she still didn't know why he brought her here.

"Willy," she turned to him. "Why did you bring me here?"

"This is the Oompa Loompas' home."

"You mean this is where you got them from?"

"Yup," he smiled. "All those many years ago, it was so different then. I wonder if some still live here."

Willy seemed to be in his whole world. It was like seeing a child looking back at all his old toys and remembering all the good memories he had with them. But she still didn't know why he brought her here or maybe he wanted her to meet someone.

Amber started to look around the little houses and tried climbing one of the trees but failed. Everything was small and it was hard to get around. The one thing that crossed her mind was that the rooms seemed a little bigger than the house back at the factory. Amber walked into what seemed to be a bedroom and something on the bed caught her site.

She slowly walked over and noticed a doll lying on the bed. She picked it up and was surprised at how light it was. At that very moment a thought came into her head. Why is the doll here? If it were there for a long time it wouldn't be in the good condition it's was in. Amber was very confused until she heard footsteps behind her.

Her eyes widened at the figure in the doorway. A little Oompa Loompa child stood at stared up at her. When Amber turned around the child was gone and she quickly got out of the house. The child was half way across one of the bridges when she scrawled out of the house.

For such short legs the Oompa Loompa ran pretty fast and Amber struggled to keep up. She stopped to catch her breathe when she saw the little person run into a punch of vines. According to Amber, this place couldn't get anymore weirder, Willy randomly bringing her to the little of no where, making her stay then Oompa Loompas popping out of no where.

The teen slowly pushed away the vines and walked forward with her arm out. Within a few moments she could see the vines in front of her and they were starting to thin out. She pushed away the last batch of vines and she felt one hundred pair of eyes turn towards her.

A hundred or more Oompa Loompas were inside the vine canopy. They must have taken cover because of the helicopter noise since it was a foreign noise to them. Amber looked around and noticed families together but in the distance there was Willy talking to one of them. She couldn't believe he was here with them and it made her so mad he didn't tell her.

"Willy!" she stomped up to him. "What are you doing?"

"I am talking to the Chief," he gestured to the little man next to him. "What did you think I was doing?"

"I thought you were out there looking around," she glared at him. "I thought there weren't people living here?"

"Well," he thought for a moment. "Some Oompa Loompas didn't come back to the factory with me. So I allowed them to stay here but I always come to visit once and a while."

"Is that it!" she screamed. "You dragged me all the way here so you could socialize with little people. All you think about is that damn factory of yours."

Amber was happy that she was making a scene in front of all the Oompa Loompas and the fact that she was making Willy feel bad. Before he could say another word, she turned around and stormed out of the area. She didn't care if he followed her or not. She just simply wanted to go back to England and be with people her own age.

Her pace became slowly as she followed her footprints from early in the day. In the distance she noticed the helicopter. Well it was kind of hard not to notice it since it was a huge purple metal helicopter in a green forest. She slowly walked up to it and opened the cargo doors. Before she closed the door and she looked around to see if Willy was coming. When she saw no one she closed the door.

"Amber?" a soft voice woke her up.

"Mom?" she rubbed her eyes.

"Amber?" came Willy's voice.

Her eyes snapped open to see him kneeling near the open doors of the flying machine. It took her a little while to register where she was and that's when it hit her. She was still stuck in the middle of nowhere with the crazy chocolatier and she must have fallen asleep after getting in the night before. She looked up at Willy and noticed something was different about him. He wasn't smiling in the weird way he does and he seemed to be very tired.

"Willy? Is something wrong?"

"Oh nothing," he suddenly had a huge smile on. "If you don't mind. I want to show you one more thing before we go home."

"This is the last time," she sighed.

Like if those were the magic words, all his energy suddenly came back to him and he was back to normal. Amber slowly got out but as soon as her feet touched the ground Willy grabbed her hand and started to pull her in a different direction. She wanted to know what the rush was all about and he said the surprise wouldn't last for long.

It seemed they were going into the darker part of the woods but Willy seemed to know where he was going. He would stop now and then to look around but then rush off in another direction again. So many ideas were popping into Amber's head and many of them were terrifying.

Willy finally stopped in front of a canopy of vines and looked around. Amber opened her mouth to ask if this was the place but then he put his finger to his mouth. She immediately closed her mouth and followed Willy into the canopy. The area was full of mist and it seemed like there was a pool of blackness not too far ahead. Willy stopped her right before the pool and smiled.

"Is this it?" she asked.

"Just wait a second. You will see it soon."

Amber looked around but didn't see anything interesting. At this point she thought Willy had really lost it and that he was imagining something fantastic to happen. Suddenly Willy was getting really excited and tapped her on the shoulder. She looked up at him and he was pointing into the distance. She sighed and looked in the direction that he was pointing.

Amber's mouth dropped and her eyes widened. The sun was slowly seeping through the vines and landing on the water's surface. That's when the surface of the water began to glow and fireflies began to flash. Amber had never seen anything like it before. The place was almost magical.

"It's beautiful..."

"Ever since I saw this over fifteen years ago, I wanted to bring your mother here."

"She would have loved it."

The two stood next to each other as they stood near the water and watched it glow. It truly was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen and it also brought her to a new conclusion. Willy wasn't as bad as she thought he was. He may be childish and annoying at times but that is who he is. She wouldn't change anything about him even for all chocolate in the world.


	26. Bonus : Graduation

(Bonus) Chapter 26 – Graduation

The chocolate factory had only been growing larger, only in the eyes of Amber. It was exam time for her and she would spend countless hours in her room studying. The chocolatier would come in every few hours bugging her to come help him but she wouldn't say anything. He would stand there for minutes waiting for her to say something but nothing came.

"What are you doing?" he loomed over her shoulder.

"Not now," she said in a stern voice. "I'm studying. Come back later."

"What for?"

"Willy… GET OUT!" she yelled at him.

His eyes grew wide in shock and horror. He had never seen this side of her, well the yelling side at least. It wasn't her normal made-at-Willy tone but something even worse. He fled the room in terror. He didn't want her unleashing her three headed dragon that she had in her closet or so he guessed.

Willy wasn't in the creative mood. The summer holidays were coming and he had to think of a new candy for the little children of the world. He wasn't sure if it should be chocolate, hard candy, soft candy or a type of ice cream. They were all possibilities but he felt he had already walked those paths before.

In frustration he began to walk around the factory. He didn't know where he was going but walking always cleared his mind. It was quite late at night when he walked by Amber's room. The light was still on but he didn't hear anything. He slowly opened the door and walked in. The dark haired teenager had fallen asleep on her books with the light on.

"Oh Amber…"

He slowly walked up to her and lightly placed his hand on her back. She didn't even move. She was in such a deep sleep that if an earthquake happened she wouldn't wake up. Willy looked down at the books on her desk. It wasn't like the stuff he learnt in school though he hardly paid attention. Some of the stuff he was reading didn't make sense.

"What are you studying for?" he said to himself.

Either way, he closed the books and slowly picked up the sleeping girl. She began to snore when he carried her to the bed. Amber had always amazed him ever since the day they met. She acted a lot like her mother but she added her own personal touch to it. it always brought a little light to the gloomiest day at the factory. He hesitated for a moment before kissing her on the forehead.

"Good night."

The night morning was an early rise for most of the workers in the factory. Willy had planned out his entire day. Today he was going to make his oh so popular summer candy with the help of his little dark hair friend. He walked into her bedroom to walk her up and noticed right away that she wasn't there.

"Where could she be?" he said to himself.

All the books on her desk were gone too. Maybe she went studying some where else in the factory. It's always good to have something new to look at on study breaks or eat. An invisible light bulb popped over Willy's head as he headed to another part of his factory. She could be in the kitchen or the Chocolate Room or the Television Room or the Jelly Room. There were so many possibilities.

"Morning Willy," she passed him in the hallway.

"Ah! Hey!"

He took so much effort to turn around to catch up to her. For some odd reason she was dressed in her school uniform and her school bag was hung on her shoulder. He had a confused look on his face as he watched her head to the doors of the factory. Before she opened the doors, he grabbed her shoulder and turned her around.

"Where are you going?" he tried to collect himself.

"I'm going to school...?" she said in a confused way.

"On a Wednesday. This is unheard of!"

"Willy I have my final exam today. I have to go in."

"You don't need to go. Wouldn't you rather make candy with me," he made a wild gestured away from the doors.

"It sounds fun but I really have to go."

"Wait!" he blocked the door.

"I can't believe you," she glared at him. "This exam means everything to me. I have to go."

"How can writing nonsense on a piece of paper mean anything?"

"Willy," she glared at him even harder. "If you don't let me pass I will hurt you."

The chocolatier swallowed hard as the young lady kept her gaze hard. He was slowly beginning not to like her personality or being around her. She couldn't even take a small joke anymore. Usually she would smile and laugh a little. He couldn't even get a snicker out of her.

"Okay…"

He hung his head in shame as he opened the door for you. She fixed her uniform a little before walking out of the factory. It was beautiful June morning. Children were heading to school and it seemed more people were out walking. Amber walked shyly to school and tried not to get any attention brought to her. She would be graduating from high school and starting a new life.

"Hey Amber!" James ran up to her.

"Hey…"

"What's wrong? Are you nervous for your exam?"

"Just a little."

"Come on. Where's that happy little girl I love so much?"

"Stop it," she blushed.

"Do your best, okay?"

"Okay."

He kissed on the cheeks before running off to play with some of his friends. James always had it easy in school. He was a bright boy but he was more into the science behind sports and playing them. Amber was more into theory science and proving crazy formulas. If she passed this exam, it would qualify her to go to one of the most known school in England. She would have to move away.

She shook her head and quickly walked into her school. She didn't want to think of what would happen if she was accepted. She didn't want to know how Willy would take it. Would he even let her go? She sighed as she walked into the exam room. All her thoughts were put into the back of her mind, for now.

Two weeks passed but there was no answer from the Ministry about her exams marks. Graduation was going to be in a few days and the nerves were slowly building up. Amber tried to relieve stress by helping Willy around the factory but she just didn't have the heart for it. Willy began to notice her despair but didn't know how to bring it up. He was always bad at having normal conversations.

"A…. am..ber," he forced it.

"Yah," she looked into the distance.

"Is there," he paused for a moment. "Is there something the matter?"

Her head slowly moved up to look at him. This was the first time that she could remember, where he was opening up to her. They just looked at each other. Willy started to fiddle around with some of the candy and she could tell that not saying anything was making him nervous.

"I have something to tell you," she put down the candy.

"What is that?"

"I'm graduating in a few days. After that, I might be moving away to go to school."

"WHAT?!"

He turned to her in utter modification. She was expecting him to react this way she was prepared. He stayed in that position looking at her for a hint of a lie any where but she wasn't lying. He collected himself and told his Oompa Loompas to leave the room. They stood alone in the silent room.

"Run that by me again," he looked at her in a funny way.

"I might be going away for schooling."

"Why?" he was being cocky. "Isn't there school around here?"

"If I want a good education I must go some where else."

"Why?"

"Willy, this isn't as simple as candy. I am one of the smartest students in my school. I have a scholarship awaiting me at one of the best school in all of England."

"You're not going."

"What?"

It was her turn to be modified. She was expecting him to take the fact hat she was going away but not allowing her to go. She glared at him as he went back to his work. She didn't know what to say. Her head turned back to work. It was silent for a few moments before she turned back to him.

"Willy," she said calmly.

"Yes," he copied her.

"No matter what you say, on Thursday I am going to take that scholarship and I am going to move away."

She didn't mean the words to hurt him but she could see the sorrow in his eyes. He slowly put down his candy and walked out of the room. Amber felt the guilt a few moments after the door closed. Yes they had fought before but never to the point where they hurt each other. It was always playful. She threw down her candy and tried to hold back her tears.

They didn't talk to each other or even see each other. The few days before Amber's graduation, Willy was purposely ignoring her. She would see him coming and he would suddenly change the direction he was walking in. Amber was becoming very sad and she wanted to apologize but he was just being a little child.

It was a cloudy morning. The weather forecast predicted rain for the next week. The young lady stood in front of her window and watched over the sad looking city. She could see all the houses in the city and they seemed so tiny. A sighed escaped her lips as she saw James coming towards the factory. It was a big day for the both of them. She was dressed in an elegant green dress that brought out her eyes.

"You look amazing." James came up to her.

"Thank you," she really wasn't in the mood.

"We should get going. We don't want to be late."

She nodded and headed out. They were quickly walking through the halls of the factory when they walked by Willy's work room. Amber stopped and peeked through the open door. He stood along near the full length window. He was wearing one of his best suits for some odd reason. Amber knocked on the door and walked in.

"Willy?" she said but he didn't answer. "I'm going now. I am going to be back later tonight."

She stood in the room for a few moments but he didn't move or make a sound. She quickly turned around and left the room. James had noticed right away that there was something happening between them but he didn't want to bring the subject up so promptly. They headed to their graduation ceremony hand in hand.

The auditorium was filled. Every child that was sitting on the stage had their parents in the crowd. Each student was called up to get their diploma and they had big smiles on their faces. Amber was waiting in line to get her diploma. She kept glancing in the crowd to see the chocolatier but she couldn't find him.

"Amber Smith," the head mastered called. "Gold Standing."

She put a fake smile on her face as she walked over to her teachers. Each shook her hand and congratulated her. She was one of the few students who had a Gold Standing. She was excited about her accomplishments but no one was there to celebrate it with her.

It was time for the final awards of the show. Amber sat nervously in her seat. Each student that had a special award had to make a speech. She didn't know what she was going to say. Her name was called up and she slowly walked up.

"Congratulations, Miss Amber," the head master shook her hand. "You have won the Science and Chemistry Scholarship to Cambridge University. How do you feel?"

Amber's heart stopped and tears formed in her eyes. Standing at the entrance of the auditorium was the chocolatier. He looked at her with complete sorrow on his face. She knew what this was going to do to him. He wouldn't make candy anymore because he wouldn't have inspiration. She took the scholarship and watched him slowly turn around to leave.

"I can't accept this," she said softly into the microphone but he echoed around the room.

"What? Miss Amber you must be mad," the head master started to panic.

"I belong some where else."

She dropped everything in her arms and ran after the now gone chocolatier. A crowd of people followed her outside as she ran in the rain. She spotted him heading into the gates of the factory. She wanted to call after him but nothing came out of her mouth. The entire school was running up the street to see what she was going after.

"Willy," she called after him. "Wait!"

"Why are you here?" he kept walking.

"Because this is where I belong."

He stopped and slowly turned around. She was drenched from head to toe. Her green eyes were looking up at him in complete happiness. She slowly walked up to him and wrapped her arms around him. He was taken back and just stood there with wide eyes.

"I couldn't leave," she started to cry. "You have grown on me so much Willy. I would miss you too much."

"Ah…oh…mn…" he didn't know what to say.

"Plus," she pulled back and looked up at him. "You would go sane without me… You are my only family. I should be where my family is."

He finally wrapped his arms around the young girl and tight. He hadn't been this touched by her before. Her mother had done is once and it seemed the skill had been passed on. Willy looked down at the crying her. She had a huge smile on her that resemble his. She just had given up her future to stay with him.

"You're crazy, Amber!" he laughed.

"I learnt from the best."

* * *

**Author's Note: **I would like to thank everyone who had supported me through this entire story. I love you guys. This is actually the final chapter. I always had in on my mind and I finally wrote it down and uploaded it. Please review with final notes.


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